joseph parikian Posted March 14, 2004 Report Share Posted March 14, 2004 Spanish government admits defeat Spain's ruling Popular Party has suffered an unexpected defeat in the country's general election with almost all the votes counted. The poll was overshadowed by claims that al-Qaeda carried out the Madrid bomb attacks that killed 200 people. The Socialist's party Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is now set to become Spain's new prime minister, ending eight years of conservative rule. "My immediate priority will be to fight all forms of terrorism," he said. Congratulations Mr Zapatero was - until Thursday's bombings - considered an outsider for Spain's top job. But the Socialists won 42% of the vote while the centre-right Popular Party garnered 38%, according to official results. A larger than expected 63% of the electorate turned out to vote, Mariano Rajoy of the ruling Popular Party has congratulated the socialists on their victory. I feel very happy. The government had to change... because of the Iraq war Spanish law student "We will have the interests of Spain at heart," he said. Analysts said people had turned out in bigger numbers than predicted in order to defy the bombers who carried out last Thursday's attacks. Investigations continue into who was behind the bombings. Aznar criticised Initially, the government was adamant the Basque separatist organisation Eta was responsible for the bombings, but now it has been forced to admit that al-Qaeda has become the top suspect. A videotaped claim of responsibility by a man identifying himself as al-Qaeda's military spokesman in Europe forced the government to change its stance. The videotape was found in a litter bin on Saturday following an anonymous tip-off to a Madrid television station. In the video, a man speaking Arabic with a Moroccan accent says the attacks were revenge for Spain's "collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies". A BBC correspondent in Madrid says criticism of the way government ministers handled the initial investigation into the attacks may have lost them the election. "It's the first time I voted. I feel very happy because the government had to change... because of the Iraq war," a Spanish law student told the BBC. Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio told the BBC Eta was still a strong suspect, and said police were not ruling out a possible collaboration between Eta and al-Qaeda. Three Moroccans and two Indians are being held in connection with the attacks. Germany has called an urgent meeting of EU interior ministers to discuss the situation. Duty to vote Black ribbons hung from polling booths and voters' lapels on Sunday. Cayetano Abad, one of the 1,500 wounded in last Thursday's attacks, was driven to a polling station in an ambulance. "I've come to show that everything carries on, that we cannot stand idle," he said, bandaged and wearing a neck brace. Many people admitted they had not planned to vote until the bombings. "I have two friends who have never voted in their lives and they're going to vote in this one," said 41-year-old businessman Carlos Bermudez. Outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and his wife were booed and jostled as they arrived to cast their votes. As he tried to address supporters, he was drowned out by cries of "manipulators", "liars" and "peace". The Spanish government backed the US-led invasion of Iraq last year despite polls showing 90% opposition to it from the Spanish public. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/worl...ope/3511280.stm Published: 2004/03/14 23:12:05 GMT © BBC MMIV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakharar Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and his wife were booed and jostled as they arrived to cast their votes. As he tried to address supporters, he was drowned out by cries of "manipulators", "liars" and "peace". The Spanish government backed the US-led invasion of Iraq last year despite polls showing 90% opposition to it from the Spanish public. This really made my day. Couldn't have been better news. Aznar's election ploy didn't turn out the way he wished it to be. Using the terrorist attacks as a last resort was pretty low even for his standards. He really got a kick in the a*** by the Spanish electorate I must say. Now it's time for Blair, Berlusconi, Howard, Erdogan, Rassmussen and all the other servile goons to kick the bucket. Good riddance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gurgen Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Good! The less conservatives the better. As far as I'm concerned, they are the biggest morons ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastia Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Did you guys know that after 9/11 bombings of the Twin Towers, exactly 911 days had past when the Spanish Terrorist attack took place last week. <_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Did you guys know that after 9/11 bombings of the Twin Towers, exactly 911 days had past when the Spanish Terrorist attack took place last week. <_< According to my computer its 912 days . It would be 911 days if this year was not a leap year. Someone has miscalculated, terrorists are not that smart after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakharar Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 The West was warned. Now it is paying the price of the 'war on terror' By Robert Fisk - 15 March 2004 They had been warned. The Aznars and the Blairs and the Bushes had been told by those who were their allies - France and Germany and many others, not to mention the Arabs - that their crusade against al-Qa'ida could most cruelly rebound upon them. The Madrid bombings are not only a terrible revenge for Spain's participation in "part two" of the "war on terror" - the illegal invasion of Iraq - but a cruel and incrementally more painful attack on civilians by al-Qa'ida. If America's neo-conservatives believe in the "war of civilisations", then so does al-Qa'ida: what other effect could the Madrid slaughter have in the West than to reinforce the notion - however preposterous historically - that Islam and the West were in conflict? Civilians are now to die in Europe as brutally as they have died in Bali and Tunisia and Istanbul and - let us, for a moment, see the world through another prism - as they have been torn to pieces by our bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sources close to Osama bin Laden's organisation are puzzled about the strange message, supposedly from the attackers, which was printed in the Arabic language paper Al-Quds al-Arabi. It suggested that the initial response to Spain's involvement in Iraq was the attack on Italian troops in Kerbala - if real, it would surely have referred to the killing of seven Spanish intelligence officers near Hilla. Using a public statement to order its own "cells" to make more attacks does not show the desperate discretion which al-Qa'ida normally shows in its communications. But the arrests in Spain, the mobile phone calls, the sheer scale of the train bombings shows an al-Qa'ida as confident and ruthless as ever - and now resolved to attack in Europe. If the right foot fell in Istanbul and the left foot fell in Madrid, where, geographically, will the next right foot fall? We can take out an atlas and a ruler and work it out for ourselves. I don't believe this is the Third World War. Nor is it a "war on terror". Nor is it a "war of civilisations". But our own leaders are wilfully leading us into a period of appalling suffering because they will not address the causes of injustice in the Islamic world. Repeatedly, our leaders were told of the consequences of participation in America's Iraqi folly. They lied to us. They told us about weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist, about links between Iraq and 11 September 2001 that didn't exist. Now, trapped in Iraq, we are desperate to scuttle away, leaving behind us a half-trained force of collaboration police who will - supposedly - shed their blood for ours. No, the murderers are the men who plant the bombs. The killers are those who kill - and that includes our pilots as well as their bombers. We don't want to kill civilians. But we know that our wars will do that, and death does not come more pleasantly, less painfully, because the victims are killed by the supposedly benevolent West rather than the supposedly cruel East. Now we are beginning to pay the price. Did it really begin on 11 September 2001? No, it began long before. And no amount of weasel words, no amount of church warden sincerity can mask the degree to which we have been taken by our leaders into this insane conflict. © 2004 The Independent. UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gurgen Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 According to my computer its 912 days . It would be 911 days if this year was not a leap year. Someone has miscalculated, terrorists are not that smart after all. I think the notorious HOUS BIN PHARTHEEN made a mistake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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