White House Downplays Its Ties With Aznar During Meeting in Washington

[Translated from original Spanish
by Soj]
Washington - The ex-President of the Spanish government, Jose Maria
Aznar, is a good friend of the American President, George W. Bush
according to the White House spokesperson, Scott McClellan. Those were
the few official words said about the meeting between the two leaders.
Aznar ended his tour of the United States with a private meeting with
Bush, which Colin Powell also attended. The meeting was remarkable for
the absolute silence of the participants.
McClellan, during a press conference, would not go into more details
about the meeting. "Aznar is a good friend of the President, but now
he's a private citizen. He's the ex-president (of the government) of
Spain. No further comments."
Jose Maria Aznar also did not say anything. He left the White House
through a side door far from where the press were gathered.
The State Department spokesperson said it is "Quite normal for Bush and
Powell to meet with an ex head of state" but refused to go into details
on what was discussed during the meeting.
Aznar has also remained silent on a meeting he had on Monday in the
Pentagon with the American Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.
Neither anyone traveling with Aznar nor anyone in the Pentagon would
give a statement about the meeting, which occurred during one of the
lowest points for RUmsfeld, when he was being grilled by opposition
Democratic Party members of Congress over the abuse and torture of
Iraqi prisoners.
Polemics in Spain
Aznar's trip to the United States has caused a great deal of political
debate in Spain. Many members of the PSOE [current government] are
especially upset over the critical stories coming from the American
media about the decision to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq.
In an interview in the Los Angeles Times newspaper, Aznar stated that
he considered the withdrawal of troops from Iraq to be tantamount to a
declaration of victory for the terrorists.
In that interview, Aznar stated that the only way to put a brake on
violent acts, such as the decapitation of American Nicholas Berg, is
for Spain and the rest of the international community to give its
support to the United States.
If I were the President of the Government, the Prime Minister of Spain,
the troops would still be fulfilling their obligations" in Iraq, said
Aznar.
This was Aznar's first trip outside of SPain since the Popular Party
(PP) lost the general elections back on March 14.
Aznar has stated that the Madrid train bombing in March, in which 192
people died, had an effect on the parliamentary elections, which were
won by the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE).
The election results "would've been diferent if those terrorist attacks
had not occurred. We know this", said Aznar in his Los Angels Times
interview.
He also warned that in American, just like in Spain, "the terrorists
will do what they can to affect the elections in the United States"
Zapatero Not Upset
Aznar's statements were roundly criticized in Spain, with people like
Josep Borrell, the head of the PSOE members running for European
Parliament elections and his counterpart in the CiU, Ignasi Guardans,
amongst others who accused Aznar of "disloyalty".
The PP came to the defense of their former leader, although various
articles published in Spain have indicated that the Party has asked
Aznar to refrain from making public statements" to try and put a cap on
the criticism.
To clarify the issue, the President of the Government, Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapataro, stated on Monday that he was "not bothered" by
Aznar's criticism and added, "to each their own".
In the same vein, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Angel
Moratinos, stated in Brussels on Monday that he was not concerned about
Aznar's statements about the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq
because his comments "are neither important nor listened to".

Q Do you have a readout on the Aznar meeting, and a
purpose for that meeting?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, President Aznar is a good friend of the
President's. And secondly, this was a meeting with a private citizen --
he is a former President of Spain -- and I'm not going to have any
further readout beyond that.
Q Were Rice and Powell also involved?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm just not going to have any further readout of the
meeting. He did bring some other people with him. But I will leave it
at that.