Zapatero sticks by pledge on troops in Iraq

Spanish troops in Iraq will be withdrawn unless the United Nations takes over both political and military control of the situation there, Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said today, hours before he was expected to win approval as prime minister.

Zapatero, whose party won general elections but fell short of a majority in Parliament, had campaigned on a pledge to withdraw the Spanish troops in Iraq unless the United Nations took charge. He said the war and the occupation were illegal because they lacked a UN mandate.