- MADRID -- King Juan Carlos
and Queen Sofia attended a state funeral yesterday for the seven Spanish
military intelligence agents ambushed in Iraq, amid mounting speculation
that the spies might have been betrayed by a mole.
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- The deaths of the agents, in a roadside shootout south
of Baghdad on Saturday, destroyed Spain's intelligence operation in Iraq,
according to Spanish military leaders, and are the worst setback so far
to Spain's armed intervention.
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- Lt Col Jose Luis Gutierrez, the commander of Spain's
military base in Nayaf, said yesterday: "Without them, we are completely
in the dark." He said Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq were now without
intelligence information vital to their safety. Those killed included agents
ending their tour of duty, and those who were to replace them. To train
replacements would take months, Lt Col Gutierrez said.
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- Jose Maria Aznar, the Prime Minister, told parliament
that the agents carried out functions of counter-intelligence and anti-terrorism.
Their job included infiltrating civilian and political organisations, and
liaising with intelligence forces of allied nations. With Spain's undercover
operations blown, its allies must fear their own networks are at risk.
Federico Trillo, the Defence minister, said the assault might have been
masterminded by a mole working within the service in Iraq. Defence officials
said the intelligence agency's operations contained Iraqi staff and included
the training of Iraqi security officials, some of whom had joined anti-allied
forces.
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- The funeral at the National Intelligence Centre headquarters
in Madrid was broadcast live on national television, with the faces of
fellow agents hidden from the cameras, and was retransmitted to Spanish
forces in Iraq. Flags flew at half mast in a day of national mourning.
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- The men had military rank and were professional soldiers,
but the funeral was without military trappings. "These men were on
a mission of peace," said the priest presiding over the service. The
families will receive compensation as victims of terrorism, as if the agents
were civilians.
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- This interpretation is consistent with Mr Aznar's vision
of the Iraq conflict that he restated yesterday in parliament: those responsible
for attacks "are not forces of resistance, nor liberation forces nor
anything like that, but terrorists who want nothing more than to prevent
the Iraqi people from determining their own future".
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- Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the socialist opposition
leader, called on Mr Aznar to redefine his strategy. "Only Great Britain
contributes anything significant, the rest are just hangers on. However
important is the dominant power [the US], we can't go on like this."
-
- Mr Trillo acknowledged for the first time that Spain's
close identification with the policies of America made it a high-risk target.
"Spain is receiving constant threats, and was clearly a target because
it formed part of the hard core of the international coalition against
terrorism," he said.
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- Mr Trillo said he believed the Spanish agents were followed
as they travelled south from Baghdad in two vehicles. Suspicions that the
agents were betrayed were fuelled by reports that the men had changed their
travel plans at the last minute, bringing their departure forward and changing
the route.
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- Defence sources believe that Spanish intelligence operatives
were systematically targeted. They link the latest attack with the assassination
in October of Jose Antonio Bernal, a CNI agent attached to the consulate
in Baghdad, who opened his door to his killer, as if he recognised him.
Mr Aznar gave details of the shootout that were gathered from Jose Sanchez
Riera, the only survivor. The agents were shot at from a vehicle that overtook
them before up to a dozen reinforcements emerged from a roadside settlement
to open fire with assault rifles and grenade launchers.
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- The Spaniards returned fire with small arms, but after
more than 20 minutes were overcome and their vehicles burnt. Commander
Carlos Baro made two frantic calls within 10 minutes from his mobile phone
to his controller in Madrid, where his dying SOS was recorded: "They're
killing us! Send helicopters!"
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- Cabinet ministers, including Mr Aznar, and leaders of
all political parties attended the funeral, but senior members of the military
were absent and no one at the ceremony wore uniform. Each man was awarded
the Cross of Civil Merit.
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- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=469516
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