Spanish troops to leave Iraq as soon as possible

8.00am

MADRID - Spain's new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has given orders for Spain's 1300 troops in Iraq to come home as soon as possible.

Zapatero announced the decision in a televised statement just a day after he was sworn in as prime minister following his Socialist party's upset victory in a March 14 general election.

His decision, taken much sooner than expected, creates more problems for the United States whose forces are locked in the fiercest fighting in Iraq since last year's war toppled Saddam Hussein. US combat casualties in Iraq topped 500 on Sunday.

Zapatero said he had given new Defence Minister Jose Bono "the order to do what is necessary for the Spanish troops in Iraq to come home in the shortest possible time and the greatest possible safety".

Zapatero, a strong opponent of the US-led war, said repeatedly during the election campaign the troops would come home if the United Nations did not take charge in Iraq by June 30.

The pledge drew criticism from some US politicians. President George W Bush urged Spain and other allies in Iraq to stick with Washington.

Zapatero waited only long enough for Bono to be sworn in as defence minister to take his first major decision in what appeared to be an attempt to stop the issue from dogging his government.

He said he had decided to act now because he did not expect a UN resolution to be adopted "that conforms with the conditions we have set for our presence in Iraq".

"We found out about the news through the media...It's already night here, so I don't think the news will have reached many people," a Spanish officer in Diwaniya, south of Baghdad, told state radio.

Voters swept former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's pro-US Popular Party from power in the March election. Aznar sent the Spanish troops to Iraq after the war, even though the US intervention was deeply unpopular with most Spaniards.

The elections were held in the shadow of the bombing of four Madrid commuter trains in which 191 people were killed. A videotape purportedly from al Qaeda said the attacks were a response to Spanish actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Opposition leader Mariano Rajoy condemned Zapatero's decision, saying it made Spain more vulnerable to terrorism.

"This decision, taken so hurriedly ... makes Spain look unreliable to its international partners," he told a news conference.

However, Zapatero said the government would not act against Spaniards' wishes. The decision was also in line with his goal of contributing to the international fight against terrorism "within the strictest respect for international law," he said.

Spain would remain a faithful ally and fulfil its international commitments, especially those involving international peacekeeping missions, Zapatero said.

Spain's new Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos travels to Washington this week to brief Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice on Zapatero's Iraq stance, Spanish news reports said.

Newspaper El Pais said he would offer to replace Spanish troops in Iraq with humanitarian and reconstruction aid.

Zapatero's announcement comes amid a surge of violence in Iraq. Since the end of March, at least 99 US soldiers have died in action there.

Spanish bases in Diwaniya and Najaf in south-central Iraq have come under sporadic attack and several Spanish troops have been wounded.

Spain's worst combat casualties came in November when seven intelligence agents were killed when their cars came under fire from guerrillas. Another Spanish agent, Jose Antonio Bernal, was killed outside his Baghdad home last October.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq