IRAQ: The coffins carrying the bodies of seven Spanish intelligence officers killed in Iraq on Saturday were flown home yesterday for a full military funeral later this week.
They were accompanied by Mr Federico Trillo, the Defence Minister and Mr Jorge Dezcaller, the head of National Intelligence Centre (CNI) and the one survivor of the ambush which took place on a road 30 km south of Baghdad.
Mr Jose Manuel Sanchez, who escaped almost unharmed in the attack, managed to raise the alarm by calling CNI headquarters in Madrid on his satellite phone.
When three helicopters from the Spanish base at Diwaniya arrived, they found a scene of carnage with two burned-out vehicles, bodies strewn over the road and jubilant Iraqis celebrating the massacre, stamping on the bodies and chanting "Long Live Saddam".
Spain has 1,200 members of its armed forces serving in Iraq as part of Operation Plus Ultra.
A total of 12 Spaniards have died since the conflict officially ended (two were journalists and 10 were members of the armed forces). Mr Martin Oars, a naval captain seconded to the Spanish diplomatic mission, was killed when the UN headquarters in Baghdad was bombed in August, and an army sergeant died in an accidental shooting in October.
Although it is not known whether they were deliberate targets, this is the second time that the CNI have been attacked. In October, another military intelligence officer was shot and killed outside his home in Baghdad.
When, before the invasion, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, chose to ally himself with the coalition of President Bush and Mr Tony Blair, very few Spaniards supported him. More than one million people demonstrated against the war, and polls showed that 95 per cent were opposed to it. This figure had fallen to around 70 per cent by October, but this weekend's atrocity will almost certainly send the numbers up again.
But Mr Aznar is convinced he has chosen the right path. In a special address to the nation yesterday, he repeatedly talked of terrorism and fanaticism and showed no regret for his decision to send in the troops. He said: "We will never forget the fanatical hatred which accompanied this atrocity, and we have no alternative but to stand up to this fanaticism."
He continued: "Terrorism has no frontiers because these fanatics recognise none. Spain knows more about the victims of terrorism than probably any other country in the world. We have the experience of terrorism and of those who support it. We know we have to confront them by whatever means and we know that withdrawal is the worst possible path."
The Socialist leader Mr Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said that "this day of mourning for our fellow Spaniards" was not the time for political propaganda.
However Mr Zapatero has expressed himself in similar terms after previous killings, and only a few days later demanded an explanation in parliament from the prime minister. He is likely to do so again this time.