Spain has completed the withdrawal of its peacekeeping troops from Iraq, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said today.

US soldiers rolled into a base in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf today to replace withdrawing Spanish troops and put pressure on a radical anti-American Shiite militia that controls parts of the city.

The top US commander in Iraq cast doubt today on whether Spain would withdraw its troops from Iraq, but added that if they did, the loss would not be “a significant military problem”.

Gunmen ambushed a team of Spanish intelligence officers, killing seven agents in a bloody new attack on US allies in Iraq. There were also reports that two Japanese diplomats were ambushed and killed.