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Democracy will beat terrorism, says Zapatero

21 September 2004

NEW YORK- Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said during a visit to ‘Ground Zero’ in New York that democracy and the rule of law are the best weapons against terrorism, it was reported Tuesday.

Zapatero, accompanied by his wife, Sonsoles Espinosa, also expressed Spain’s solidarity with the United States at the site of the World Trade Center towers that were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

He is in New York for the UN General Assembly and other meetings.

The prime minister, who angered Washington when he pulled his nation’s troops out of Iraq shortly after taking office in April, was greeted at Ground Zero by Marjorie B. Tiven, head of the city’s commission for the United Nations.

Tiven, also the sister of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, gave Zapatero a report on the progress of construction at the site.

Zapatero and his wife later placed flowers – red and yellow roses representing the colours of the Spanish flag – at a memorial for the victims of September 11.

Spain and the United States “are two nations that feel very united and supportive with respect to what terrorism has represented and the fight against this scourge,” Zapatero said.

He said Spaniards understand the pain inflicted by terrorism, alluding to 30 years of violence by Basque extremists who have killed more than 800 people and the 11 March train bombings by Muslim radicals that killed nearly 200 more.

“And we have always known to fight terrorism with the power of the law, with democracy,” he said. “Without a doubt, that is the best path and the one that can prevent violence from growing … and fanaticism from increasing in the world.”

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news