MADRID, 12 March 2004 — World leaders called yesterday for a joint stand in the fight against terrorism after the Madrid massacre which the European Parliament called “the worst act of terror in memory in any European state.”
US President George W. Bush telephoned Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to express condolences and say he supported the Madrid government.
“I appreciate so very much the Spanish government’s fight against terror, their resolute stand against terrorist organizations as ETA. The United States stands with them,” Bush told reporters.
And US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington “stands resolutely with Spain in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and against the particular threat that Spain faces from the evil of ETA terrorism.”
At United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he hoped the people behind the Madrid bomb attacks would quickly be caught and brought to trial.
In Brussels, leaders of the European Union’s executive staged a silent vigil in memory of the victims. The Spanish and EU flags were lowered to half mast, and the European Parliament held a minute’s silence.
Israel called on the “free world” to unite in the face of terrorism. “Terrorism is the third world war and the nations of the free world should unite against it,” Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s spokesman Raanan Gissin said.
The Palestinian Authority also swiftly condemned the attacks. “We strongly condemn these attacks targeting innocent civilians in Madrid,” Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat said.
