- (AFP) - Spanish prime-minister elect Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero demanded a "radical change" in the post-war strategy
in Iraq and called for a coordinated European response to terrorism following
the March 11 train attacks in Madrid.
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- While Spanish police, who are holding in custody 10 suspects
believed connected with the bombings which killed 202 people, ramped up
their enquiries, Zapatero told El Pais newspaper the US-led "war on
terror" had failed and Europe needed to find a new approach.
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- "We can't win against terrorism or rout it through
wars, (which) are never an efficient way of eliminating or combatting groups
of fanatics, radicals and criminals," he said.
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- Zatapero reiterated that Spain's 1,300 troops would only
remain in Iraq after June if the United Nations took command of the occupation,
which he described as a "disaster" while calling the conflict
there a "big mistake" and "the management of the occupation
a disaster".
-
- Asked if the UN could take charge in Iraq before the
current mandate of Spain's 1,300-strong contingent ended on June 30, Zapatero
said: "I think that's possible."
-
- He rejected accusations, particularly from the United
States, that Spain was giving in to terrorism.
-
- "The absolute priority remains the struggle against
terrorism," he insisted, calling for better cooperation between intelligence
services in Europe in echoing a conclusion reached at an emergency meeting
of European Union interior and justice ministers in Brussels on Friday.
-
- "There must be much more cooperation between the
intelligence services and without any doubt we must do everything we can
to reduce the origins of fanaticism and violence," he said.
-
- Jose Bono, likely to serve as Zapatero's defence minister
when his government takes office next month, warned that leaving the troops
in Iraq would be tantamount to "turning our back on Spaniards,"
with the vast majority of the electorate opposed to the initial decision
to send them in.
-
- "We will not turn our backs on the United States
... an ally and a friend," Bono told ABC daily.
-
- But he added: "What we are not going to do either
is turn our back on Spaniards.
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- "Zapatero's engagement to put an end to terrorism
is the priority. We want Spain to work together with other nations and
pass through the door of peace rather than war," added Bono, currently
leader of the northern region of Castilla La Mancha.
-
- In Washington, European Commission president Romano Prodi
said the US-led war in Iraq has not made the world safer from terror attacks.
-
- "I don't think that in reality the situation in
the fight against terrorists is better because of the war in Iraq, clearly
it's not," Prodi told Fox News.
-
- "We must fight against terrorists and be united
against terrorism even if we think, interpret in a different way the effects
of the Iraqi war," he said.
-
- Pope John Paul II meanwhile sent a message of hope to
the Spanish people as they continued to mourn the March 11 bombings.
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- "Love is stronger than death and hate," the
pope said in Spanish, before urging the world to "remain hopeful,
courageous and generous in the face of the suffering of so many families,
the people of Madrid and the whole of Spain."
-
- EU foreign ministers will on Monday start a week of talks
aimed at forging a joint response to the Spanish bombings.
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- Intelligence chiefs from Britain, France, Germany, Italy
and Spain will meet in Madrid on the same day.
-
- Britain's top police officer said in a pre-recorded television
interview aired on Sunday that he wanted to see a new pan-European structure
to fight terrorism, dubbing the Madrid bombings a "wake-up call".
-
- "There needs to be far more coordination between
member states in Europe to counter this threat," Metropolitan Police
commissioner Sir John Stevens told BBC television.
-
- EU heads of government are scheduled to meet in Brussels
on Thursday and Friday for a summit which was supposed to focus on economic
growth but which will be instead dominated by the Madrid massacre.
-
- The bombings, the worst terrorist attack in Spanish history,
have been claimed on behalf of Al-Qaeda as revenge for conservative Prime
Minister Jose Maria Aznar's support for the US-led wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq.
-
- The Al-Qaeda link has not been confirmed but Spanish
police are focusing their investigations on Islamic extremist networks
stemming mainly from Morocco. At least three Moroccans are among the 10
suspects in custody.
-
- Spain will hold a state funeral for the victims of the
blasts in Madrid on Wednesday.
-
- Among leaders attending the funeral will be British Prime
Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac.
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