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(COMTEX) B: Spain's incoming leader: Iraq pullout may spark int'l debate ( EFE )

Madrid, Mar 17, 2004 (EFE via COMTEX) -- Incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Wednesday he hoped his decision to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq would lead to an international debate on how best to fight terrorism.

During an interview with a local radio station, Zapatero said he would make good on his campaign promise to bring the soldiers home unless the United Nations took charge of the operation, adding that his position on the matter was "clear and firm."

The results of Sunday's election also gave Zapatero's Spanish Socialist Workers Party, or PSOE, 164 parliamentary seats, compared to 148 for the Popular Party, or PP.

In Spain "there has been a break in our consensus on foreign policy" that started because "all of the previous government's decisions regarding Iraq were made unilaterally, (ignoring the will) of the people," Zapatero explained.

"The occupation is a fiasco. There have been almost more deaths after the war than during the war," he said. "The occupying forces have not allowed the United Nations to be in control of the situation."

"I will explain my position to our allies, the United States and the United Kingdom, ... so that the position of this democratic government is respected, as I respected that of the previous administration to be at war and to send troops," he said.

Moreover, Zapatero said he thought his announcement "could be useful in opening a debate on the most effective means of combating terrorism."

In his opinion, "fighting terrorism with bombs, with operations of 'shock and awe,' with Tomahawk missiles, that does not combat terrorism. It only generates more radicalism, more people who may be tempted into violence."

"Terrorism should be fought with the rule of law, with international legislation, with intelligence services," he added.

Zapatero also recalled that during his campaign he urged Spanish voters to "be a step ahead of the United States for once," referring to hopes his electoral win would be followed by a victory by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry over President George W. Bush in November.

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Copyright (c) 2004. Agencia EFE S.A.

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