Spain insists on troops withdrawal despite pressure from US, Britain

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 25, 2004

Spain insists on troops withdrawal despite pressure from US, Britain

Spain's Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero reiterated on Wednesday that Spain will follow its schedule to withdraw troops from Iraq by June 30.

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Spain's Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero reiterated on Wednesday that Spain will follow its schedule to withdraw troops from Iraq by June 30.

Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is to be Spain's foreign minister in the new government, said at a press conference that Rodriguez Zapatero made the comments when meeting with US Secretary of StateColin Powell.

Rodriguez Zapatero insisted that Spain's 1,300 troops come homeunless bigger UN role over security policy and the democratic transition in Iraq by June 30, Moratinos said.

On the UN role in Iraq, Moratinos said Powell had offered to discuss the future role of the UN in Iraq.

Earlier, a spokesman for Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Blair also suggested to Rodriguez Zapatero adopting a new UN resolution giving the world body a greater role in Iraq. However, they did not go into specifics.

Moratinos said Rodriguez Zapatero has voiced his desire to workopenly and constructively with Britain in the UN security Council in a bid to change the parameters that currently define the peace process in Iraq.

Blair and Powell visited Spain with other foreign leaders to attend the nation's state funeral of the 190 victims of the March 11 Madrid bombing attacks.

Source: Xinhua

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