Spain's Socialists May Pull Troops Out of Iraq

Mon Mar 15, 2004 06:39 AM ET

By Daniel Flynn

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's incoming leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero indicated Monday he would probably pull Madrid's troops out of Iraq in a major swing away from his predecessor's pro-American foreign policy.

Zapatero said his Socialists' surprise win in Sunday's general election -- overshadowed by the Madrid train bombings that killed 200 people -- was the first consequence of the unpopularity among Spaniards of the "disastrous" Iraq war.

"The second will be that the Spanish troops will come back," he told a Spanish radio station. "Mr Blair and Mr Bush must do some reflection... you can't organize a war with lies."

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