Blair battles to shore up Iraq war coalition

Tony Blair was today struggling to hold together the coalition which took military action in Iraq, after the Spanish Prime Minister-elect accused him and US President George W Bush of going to war on the basis of lies.

A day after being swept into office on the back of public anger over a series of rush-hour train bombs in Madrid, Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero issued a fierce condemnation of last year’s war.

He was speaking as questioning continued of five men arrested in the wake of the outrages, which killed at least 200 people and injured 1,600 more. Investigators were probing possible links between one of the suspects – Moroccan national Jamal Zougam – and last year’s suicide attacks in Casablanca.

Mr Zapatero has said he intends to fulfil a campaign pledge to bring Spain‘s 1,300 troops home from Iraq unless the occupying coalition hands over control of the country to the UN by the end of June.

Mr Blair yesterday spoke with him for 15 minutes by telephone, and the two premiers are due to meet face-to-face within the next six weeks.

Downing Street yesterday sought to play down their differences over Iraq, insisting the conversation had been “warm and friendly” and that the two leaders were agreed over the priority they gave to fighting terrorism.

But Mr Zapatero said Mr Blair and Mr Bush “will have to engage in reflection and self-criticism,” adding: “You cannot organise a war with lies.”

The war “divided more than it united, there were no reasons for it,” he said. “Time has shown that the arguments for it lacked credibility and the occupation has been managed badly.”

UK ministers last night indicated they had not given up hope of keeping Spain inside the coalition working to restore stability to Iraq.

Britain's Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell told the BBC2 Newsnight programme: “He said that if nothing changes on the ground between now and June 30 he will withdraw his troops.

“The UN is increasingly taking a very significant role. I think the agreement last week to the transitional administrative law is a huge step forward for Iraq.

“We are talking about the Coalition Provisional Authority ceasing to have that particular function from June 30 and a new situation where the Iraqis are very, very much in the ascendancy.

“In those circumstances, I think whatever particular view a country took on the war, surely the responsibility is to help Iraq in that process.”

EU officials were today working on proposals to improve Europe’s anti-terror measures in the wake of the Madrid bombs, which will be presented to the European commissioners by Justice Commissioner Antonio Vitorino tomorrow.

The ideas will be considered by EU justice and home affairs ministers at an emergency summit on Friday, then discussed by foreign affairs ministers on Monday.

And final decisions on action will be made by European heads of government at a long-scheduled meeting on March 25, which was due to be about economic progress but will now inevitably be dominated by the atrocities in Spain.

More details were last night emerging about the investigation into Zougam and two other Moroccans and two Indians arrested in connection with the four train-bombs.

Officials from both Morocco and Spain were quoted as saying there may be links with the Casablanca suicide bombs, which killed 45 last May.

Zougam is understood to have left Morocco shortly before the Casablanca atrocities.

He was later named in a Spanish indictment which identified him as a “follower” of Imad Yarkas, the alleged leader of Spain’s al-Qaida cell, who is currently in jail on suspicion of assisting the September 11 attacks in the US.

Moroccan security experts were today in Spain to help with the Madrid bombing investigation.

Reports last night suggested that Islamic militants had been discussing the possibility of terror attacks timed to influence the Spanish election as long ago as December.

A document placed on an Internet newsgroup called Islamic Global Media, which has previously carried statements purporting to be from al Qaida affiliates, suggested attacks could help bring about a Socialist victory and the withdrawal of Spain’s troops from Iraq.

This might spark a “domino effect” increasing pressure on Mr Blair to withdraw British troops, the message said.

Channel 4 News, which highlighted the message, said that it was picked up by Norwegian intelligence after being posted on December 10, last year.

The posting, issued under the name of the Centre for Services to the Mujahideen, read: “The approaching general elections in Spain in March next year must be exploited to the extreme.

“We think that the Spanish government will not stand more than two blows, or three at the most, before it will be forced to withdraw because of the public pressure on it.

“If its forces remain after these blows, the victory of the Socialist party will be almost guaranteed, and the withdrawal of Spanish forces will be on its campaign manifesto.

“Lastly, we assert that the withdrawal of Spanish or Italian forces from Iraq will create tremendous pressure on the British presence which Tony Blair may not be able to bear. So the dominoes will fall quickly – but the basic problem remains, how to bring down the first one.”