Spain will not send troops back to Iraq even if the UN authorises a multinational force to boost stability after the planned US handover of power on June 30th, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said today.
Spain's new Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has ordered the withdrawal of Spanish troops serving with the US-led coalition in Iraq.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said yesterday he expected the Security Council to authorise a multinational force aimed at improving security in violence-ridden Iraq.
However, Mr Moratinos said the move would not meet Spanish demands that full sovereignty of Iraq be handed to Iraqis or the United Nations.
"We can return to Iraq with political help...with humanitarian aid, with economic aid, with training, but not with troops," he said in an interview with Spanish television.
"You can never say never, but I would say it is not something we are contemplating at the moment."
Spain's Socialists ousted a staunchly pro-US government in a surprise election victory three days after the Madrid train bombings killed 191 people.
During the election campaign, Mr Zapatero had promised to pull out of Iraq unless the United Nations took political and military control of the country by June 30th.
But in mid-April, he announced the immediate withdrawal of Spanish troops, saying he believed it was impossible for his conditions to be met. The last soldiers are due home by May 27th.
Mr Moratinos said Afghanistan was a priority for Spain in response to a question asking if Spain planned to add to its about 120-strong force in Afghanistan.
"In Afghanistan a war against the most fanatic sectors is developing. (Osama) Bin Laden is not in Iraq," he said.
"If there is a key objective in our commitment to fight against terrorism it is more in Afghanistan...at the moment we are exploring the possibilities of our contribution, but nothing is decided."