Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 26, 2004
Spanish outgoing PM meets successor
Spain's outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar met his successor Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Thursday to discuss issues including domestic situation, Iraq andthe war against terrorism.
Spain's outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar met his successor Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Thursday to discuss issues including domestic situation, Iraq andthe war against terrorism.
On Iraq, Aznar requested Rodriguez Zapatero to set his positionon Iraq in a written document before April 21, when Spain's 1,300 troops stationed in the Arab state for humanitarian mission are scheduled to rotate, officials said.
The request was accepted by Rodriguez Zapatero, but he reaffirmed his decision to withdraw the Spanish contingent before June 30 unless the United Nations is given far greater role in Iraq.
For his part, Aznar said that it would be a huge waste of moneyto go through with the rotation only to pull the troops out for good just 10 weeks later.
Rodriguez Zapatero, secretary-general of the Spanish Socialist Party which is strongly against the US-led war on Iraq, won the national election earlier this month.
The sharp policy change has upset the United States and Britain,although they hoped to keep Spain on board with a new UN resolution on Iraq that would endorse an interim government and a multinational force as well as define the UN role there.