Spain's ties with US 'won't suffer' - Minister
Spain’s withdrawal of its troops from Iraq should not harm long-term relations with the United States, Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos said today, adding that the country would honour its international commitments and remain steadfast in the fight against terrorism.
“This decision should not affect bilateral relations between Spain and the United States,” Moratinos said. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced last night that the 1,300 troops would return home as soon as possible.
Moratinos, scheduled to fly to Washington tomorrow to meet Secretary of State Colin Powell, noted Zapatero’s new Socialist government would comply with Spain’s pledges at the recent Iraq Donor’s Conference and otherwise help reconstruction and transition to democracy.
“We’re not washing our hands” of the situation which the Socialists and most Spaniards opposed all along, he said. About the United States, he added, “We have a wider and more attractive agenda in the medium and long term,” apart from the thorny Iraq issue.
After members of his Cabinet were sworn in and only a day after he himself was, Zapatero ordered Spanish troops pulled out of Iraq, fulfilling a campaign pledge to a nation still recovering from terrorist bombings that al-Qaida militants said were reprisal for Spain’s support of the war under the previous Popular Party government of then-Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
“This morning, once the minister of defence was sworn in, I gave him the order to do what is necessary for the Spanish troops stationed in Iraq to return home in the shortest time and with the most security possible,” Zapatero said at a hastily-called news conference.
Last month’s emotional election days after a commuter-train terrorist bombing killed 191 people and injured more than 1,800 others. The latest poll showed 72% of Spaniards want the troops withdrawn.
Zapatero said he could find no reason for keeping the troops in Iraq under the current situation.
“These circumstances have led me to take the decision to order the return of our troops with the maximum safety and thus in the shortest time possible,” Zapatero said.
“More than anything, this decision reflects my desire to keep the promise I made to the Spanish people more than a year ago,” he said.
He said Bono would give details in coming days of the process of bringing the soldiers home, and that he himself had convened an urgent meeting of Parliament to discuss his decision.
The Spanish troops were stationed in south-central Iraq with responsibility for Diwaniya and the flashpoint Shiite holy city of Najaf. Eleven of the Spanish troops have died since August, including seven intelligence agents in a highway ambush in November.
In a videotape found the night before the election, an Arabic-speaking man claiming to speak for al-Qaida said the bombings were punishment for Aznar’s support of the war. Aznar’s party had been expected to win the election comfortably.
