Australia goes easy on Spain but hits RP anew

Australia backtracked late yesterday as Foreign Minister Alexander Downer made a clear distinction between Spain’s withdrawal of troops from Iraq following the Madrid train bombings and the Philippines’ withdrawal this month to secure the release of a hostage.

Earlier yesterday, Downer had repeated the allegations he aired over the weekend that the Philippines and Spain had given in to terrorists.

"The Spanish position is a particularly complex situation because of the election" straight after the Madrid attacks in March that claimed nearly 200 lives, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told BBC radio in London.

"The Socialist Party promised they would (withdraw troops) if they won the election and they did win the election," he said.

Downer, however, maintained that the Philippines had encouraged militant extremism by withdrawing its forces from Iraq.

"In the case of the Philippines, they decided to pull their troops out early as a result of acceding to the demands of the terrorists who took one of their citizens and threatened to kill him.

"We regret that the Philippine government made that decision," he said. "They did save the life of their citizen, of course, but the trouble is it does make life a little more difficult for other countries that still have people in Iraq."

President Arroyo, during her State of the Nation Address yesterday, defended her decision to save truck driver Angelo de la Cruz’s life by withdrawing the Philippine humanitarian contingent from Iraq a month ahead of schedule.

"I cannot apologize for being a protector of my people," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo said letting Iraqi militants behead De la Cruz would have been a "pointless provocation" that would have placed the 1.5 million Filipino workers in the Middle East in greater danger.

"In short, let me tell all Filipinos everywhere from this place and right now, that you have a government, indeed you have a country, that cares," she said. "Your life is held more dearly than any international acclaim."

Downer, earlier in the day, defended his right to criticize Manila and Madrid for their actions.

"All sorts of people have had more than their fair share of comment about what we’ve done in Iraq," he told a Sydney radio station in reference to criticism of the government for sending Australian troops to Iraq.

"I don’t think that I’m prepared to accept that on the one hand we can take a terrible hammering from some people, but on the other hand it’s wrong for us ever to criticize what someone else does."

Downer described the spate of hostage-taking that followed the release of De la Cruz last week as an inevitable consequence of the Philippines changing its troop withdrawal timetable.

"Within a day or so of the Filipinos doing that, six more people were taken hostage in Iraq," he said. "You have to stand up to these people because if you don’t you empower them."

Opposition Labor Party foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said Downer should not have made his criticisms public.

"I question the wisdom of Mr. Downer declaring World War III publicly on the government of the Philippines," he said. "We have Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf and other terrorist organizations at work within the Philippines and elsewhere within Islamic southeast Asia. Therefore, it’s important we have a good working relationship in our dealings with the Philippine government."

Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters yesterday that their government is still "investigating the authenticity and relevance" of the Islamic Tawhid Group, "but we will not take any notice of threats of that kind."

"We will not parlay and negotiate with terrorists and I believe the overwhelming majority of the Australian public will agree with us," he said.

The group, which claims to be the European wing of the al-Qaeda terror network, reportedly posted an online notice last week threatening to turn Australia and Italy into "pools of blood" if they did not withdraw their troops from Iraq.

Australia has been one of the strongest supporters of the United States-led Iraq campaign, contributing 2,000 troops to last year’s invasion. About 850 Australian troops are still in and around Iraq.

Downer’s earlier comments had drawn immediate protest from Manila and Madrid. Philippine national security adviser Norberto Gonzalez condemned Downer’s criticisms as "very narrow minded."

Philippine National Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Joel Goltiao challenged Downer to prove his allegations.

"It’s very hard to correlate both instances at this point. They have to prove it," he said, referring to the government’s withdrawal of its 51-strong humanitarian contingent from war-torn Iraq and the new threats.

Goltiao said the Australian government may have issued a "generalized" statement because they were against the decision made by Mrs. Arroyo.

He refused to comment any further, saying the issue should be left to higher authorities.

Spain’s new government denied it had given in to terrorists by fulfilling an election pledge to abandon Iraq and branded Downer’s charge "totally unacceptable."

Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) foreign affairs spokesman Trinidad Jimenez rejected Downer’s earlier declarations, "when in Spain we have spent years fighting terror and have lost so many citizens doing so."

"The Spanish government would never have accepted threats from a terrorist group," he said, adding that the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq was in response to "an electoral promise and the firm belief that from the beginning this was an unjust and illegal war." — AFP, AP, Christina Mendez