The conservative daily Die Welt said Powell's attempt to seek dialogue with his Euroepan counterparts was significant.

"For Europeans, it means reach out your hand to the United States, do not reject their collaboration in Iraq, show conciliation. Because without the USA, Europe loses its military protection," it said.

"Without them, suspicion grows between EU members. Without them, the Russian bear gains weight on the European continent. The quarrel over Iraq is not worth risking all that," it said.

The centre-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung also urged EU leaders to seize the day. "Powell's trip should be understood as an opportunity," it wrote.

"Europe cannot simply complain ad nauseum about US military might and the failings of a common (EU) foreign and security policy," it wrote.

"In Washington, the feeling will grow that the United States needs the support of its allies so that it does not crash on the altar of a grandiose imperial hubris."

"Europe -- old and new -- will not unite itself by opposing the United States," the paper added, and must instead "draw up a common response to the doctrine of European security."

The centre-left Berliner Zeitung said European leaders should try to persuade the United States to cooperate closer with its international partners. "Success isn't assured," it said, "but the first signs of hope were seen on Thursday."

The liberal Tagesspiegel, for its part, had a cartoon of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder rolling up his sleeves in front of huge, bomb-damaged blocks spelling out the words Iraq, UN, NATO and EU.

"Time for reconstruction," he is quoted as saying.

SPACE.WIRE