- MADRID (Reuters) -- The last
Spanish troops left Iraq on Friday in what was seen as a snub to President
Bush but a popular move among Spaniards.
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- The last of the Spanish troops, who once numbered 1,400,
crossed into Kuwait and would fly to Spain by next Monday, the Defense
Ministry said.
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- A Spanish radio reporter reporting on the pullout, Fran
Sevilla, was freed unharmed on Friday after being held in the Iraqi city
of Najaf for a few hours by Shi'ite militiamen loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr, state radio said.
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- The pullout fulfils an election pledge by new Socialist
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who opposed the Iraq war and
branded the occupation "a fiasco."
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- The pledge became more controversial following Zapatero's
surprise victory three days after train bombings in Madrid killed 191 people
in attacks linked to al Qaeda.
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- Zapatero ignored pleas to reconsider the decision from
the United States. Honduras and the Dominican Republic followed Spain's
lead to quit the country as they were part of a Spanish-led brigade.
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- U.S. forces have taken over former Spanish bases at Najaf
and Diwaniya.
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- Zapatero's decision has gone down well at home, where
the state polling agency said last week 76.8 of those surveyed supported
the withdrawal.
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- RELEASE
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- Sevilla, a veteran war correspondent, broke the news
on Friday that the last Spanish troops had left their base in Diwaniya,
southern Iraq, and were heading out of the country.
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- Soon afterwards, Sevilla became the news when he was
detained by militiamen loyal to Sadr, whose forces have launched an uprising
across Iraq against the U.S.-led occupation.
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- Zapatero's government quickly moved to obtain Sevilla's
release, contacting Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority,
and other officials.
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- The pullout has been portrayed by some American politicians,
as well as Aznar, as appeasement to terrorism following the Madrid bombings.
The government rejected the charge.
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- At least 10 Spanish military personnel have been killed
in Iraq since August, including seven intelligence agents killed by guerrillas
last November.
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- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5222568
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