BERLIN, Aug 13 (Reuters) - A German foreign ministry spokesman said he had heard European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton may call foreign ministers to Brussels on Friday for talks on how to respond to the crisis in Iraq.
"We are confronted with an existential threat to tens of thousands of people, who are fighting for their lives at the moment. It is an existential threat to ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, for the state and for the whole region," he said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had urged his European peers to meet swiftly to discuss the crisis.
"I hear through the grape vine from sources in Brussels that Lady Ashton has suggested Friday for such a meeting... The German government thinks it is very important that there is a European response... it is particularly important to have a coherent European response in terms of equipment and humanitarian aid," he added. (Reporting by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
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