Row over terror threat to Spain

4 June 2004

MADRID – A row broke out between Spain and the United States Friday over remarks by US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld who claimed Spain was one of the leading terrorist targets this summer.

Spain’s vice-president María Teresa Fernández de la Vega immediately condemned the comments as “irresponsible” and “imprudent”.

Rumsfeld, speaking on a visit to Singapore, said: “The level of threat from terrorists continues to be high in terms of attacks on the United States and other countries this summer of which the principal targets are Spain, Indonesia and another five, ten or 15 nations.” 

He was visiting Singapore for a conference on US strategy in the Far East.

Rumsfeld said the war against terrorism was far from over and terrorist groups were trying to destabilise moderate Muslim countries in any region of the world.

He said he regretted the departure of George Tenet, who resigned as director of the CIA Thursday after repeated criticism over the role of the intelligence agency before the Iraq war.

Tenet resigned for “personal reasons” although reports Friday said the real reason was a highly critical – though unpublished — report in The New York Times which prompted him to leave.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news