Wow. This is pretty big (at least I think). All things considered. I am curious as to what the United State's response will be.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...nm/spain_dc_14
pain's Troops Heading Out of Iraq Under Zapatero
29 minutes ago
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By Andrew Cawthorne
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's incoming leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero indicated Monday he would pull his troops out of the "disastrous" occupation of Iraq (news - web sites) in a major swing from his predecessor's pro-American foreign policy.
Reuters Photo
AFP
Slideshow: Spain Elections
New Spanish PM Holds Presser
(Reuters Video)
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The European Union (news - web sites) (EU), concerned by growing signs that Thursday's Madrid train bombings may have been carried out by Islamist militants, called emergency counter-terrorism talks.
Zapatero's Socialists swept to office Sunday in a shock victory over Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's conservatives.
Some analysts said it could be an alarming first case of Islamist militants influencing, by violence, the outcome of a major Western election.
But Zapatero called his triumph a first consequence of the Iraq war's unpopularity with Spaniards.
"The second will be that the Spanish troops will come back," he told a Spanish radio station.
"Mr Blair and Mr Bush must do some reflection and self-criticism... you can't organize a war with lies," he said in remarkably frank comments for the next prime minister of Western Europe's youngest democracy and fifth largest economy.
President Bush (news - web sites) called to congratulate 43-year-old Zapatero. "The two leaders said they both looked forward to working together, particularly on our shared commitment to fighting terrorism," a White House spokesman said.
Bush did not ask about a Spanish troop withdrawal.
Zapatero, due to take office within the next month, repeated several times Monday his campaign pledge to pull out troops unless the United Nations (news - web sites) takes charge in Iraq by mid-year -- a shift in control that he said was unlikely.
A U.S. official, who asked not to be named, said Washington could push for a new U.N. resolution before it hands back sovereignty to Iraqis by the end of June, to encourage allies such as Spain to keep their troops in Iraq.
Spain has 1,300 soldiers in parts of south-central Iraq. Critics of the government have argued that the Madrid bombings were the price Spain paid for backing the Iraq occupation.
"We have been very clear about the risk and the threat that we were all facing with this illegal war in Iraq, and unfortunately Spain has paid the price," Spain's likely next foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told Reuters.
"The sooner we admit that the wrong policy has been made, the better for the future of the international community."
RANCOR REMAINS OVER ETA BLAME
Most commentators saw Zapatero's shock election victory as driven by anger over Aznar's handling of the suspected al Qaeda attack on Madrid commuter trains that also wounded 1,500 people.
After Thursday's attacks Aznar's government initially blamed the armed Basque separatist group ETA, which denied involvement.
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Sunday would go down in history as "the day when Islamic fundamentalism was seen as dictating the outcome of a European election," said Wilfried Martens, head of the European People's Party, an umbrella group for European conservative parties.
With almost all votes counted, the Socialists had won 42.6 percent of the vote to 37.6 percent for Aznar's Popular Party.
With 164 seats in the lower house of parliament, 12 short of an absolute majority, Zapatero has said he intends to govern through dialogue with other groups. He ruled out the possibility of a coalition with regional parties.
But the PP will remain by far the largest single force in the upper house or Senate, potentially making it difficult for a Socialist government to pass legislation.
MARKETS HURT
The Spanish stock market dropped sharply Monday amid mounting suspicions of al Qaeda involvement in the bombings and uncertainties over the Socialist party's economic agenda. Some 12 billion euros was wiped from the value of leading companies.
But in a nod to investors in Spain, Zapatero lined up well-known free-marketeer Miguel Sebastian as his chief economic advisor. Sebastian is tipped to take the economy ministry.
Zapatero said his immediate priorities would be fighting terrorism and a more "pro-European" foreign policy.
The EU's Irish presidency announced that EU justice and interior ministers would hold emergency counter-terrorism talks in Brussels Friday at Germany's request.
Zapatero's surprise win has changed the EU's balance of power, robbing pro-U.S. supporters of the Iraq war, led by Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites), of an important ally.
It may also open the way for compromise on a stalled EU constitution blocked by Aznar to defend Spain's voting power.
Aznar's closeness to Blair and Bush was unpopular at home.
Zapatero said he wanted "cordial" ties with Washington but "magnificent" relations with France and Germany.
Sunday, Spain said it had a videotape, purportedly from Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda, saying it carried out the attacks to punish Madrid for backing the U.S.-led war on Iraq.
El Pais newspaper said Spanish police suspected the bombings were carried out by a radical Islamist group, with indirect ties to al Qaeda, which also killed dozens in a series of blasts in Morocco last year.