Kofi Annan calls Aznar author of his own defeat

Criticism reflects growing international unease at behaviour of Aznar government, as PM-elect challenges Bush on Iraq

The Guardian
March 18, 2004
By Giles Tremlett in Madrid

The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, said yesterday that the outgoing Spanish prime minister, José María Aznar, had paid for backing the Iraq war and blaming last week's terrorist attacks in Madrid on Eta.

His comments came after Spain was forced to explain to the UN why, within hours of the attacks and with no culprit identified, it had pushed a motion blaming Eta through the security council.

"I think there is a lesson here for everybody, including the council members," Mr Annan said. "We need international cooperation _ to work together, share information, intelligence, work diplomatically and politically to contain terrorism."

His comments are likely to please the prime minister-elect, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who wants the control of foreign troops in Iraq handed to the UN.

Spain has written to security council members saying that when the motion was passed the government "was under the firm conviction that the terrorist group Eta was behind the terrible attacks".

Yesterday Mr Zapatero reiterated his challenge to President George Bush to hand control of Iraq to the UN or see Spanish troops withdrawn.

"I will listen to Mr Bush, but my position is very clear and very firm," he said. "The occupation is a fiasco. Combating terrorism with bombs _ with Tomahawk missiles, isn't the way to defeat terrorism. Terrorism is fought by the state of law. That's what I think Europe and the international community have to debate."

There were signs yesterday that, after his Socialist party's victory on Sunday, Mr Zapatero's message was getting through and the UN will have a bigger role in Iraq.

The Iraqi Governing Council finally dropped its opposition and invited a UN team to Baghdad to advise on an interim government and elections.

Washington said it might seek a new UN resolution that could help persuade Mr Zapatero not to withdraw Spain's 1,300 soldiers. But Bush allies in Washington are calling Mr Zapatero and the Spanish people "appeasers".

Mr Bush himself urged Spain and other coalition members not to cave in to al-Qaida pressure by withdrawing troops. "It's essential that we remain side-by-side with the Iraqi people," he said.

Mr Annan said that the Aznar government's attempts to turn attention away from the possibility that al-Qaida was responsible, and its support for the Iraq war, were among the reasons voters rejected him.

A growing sense of unease about the behaviour of the Aznar government has begun to emerge. The German police have accused it of handing them false information on the bombings, it is reported.

The US deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, echoed Mr Annan, saying he thought Sunday's vote was "a protest by the people against the handling of the terrorist event by the sitting government of Spain."

The House of Representatives Speaker, Dennis Hastert, accused Spain of caving in to terrorism. "Here's a country who stood against terrorism and had a huge terrorist act within their country and they chose to change their government and to, in a sense, appease terrorists," he said.

Fractures are reported to have appeared in Mr Aznar's party as he and his successor, Mariano Rajoy, have been blamed for throwing away the election by mishandling the bombings.

There was a growing feeling that Mr Rajoy should be replaced by Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, the younger and more liberal mayor of Madrid, the newspaper El Periódico said.

With the process of forming a new government liable to last up to 40 days, Mr Zapatero's Socialist party is demanding that the outgoing government consult it on all policies, including how to handle a troop rotation in Iraq next month.

Mr Zapatero pledged yesterday that Eta would remain a government priority. He said he planned to bring the national and civil guard police forces under a single director general to help remedy what he saw as Spain's "deficient security model".

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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