No connection possible
Zapatero also warned that there can be no real peace in Southwest Asia [Middle East] until UN resolutions and the "Road Map" for peace are fully implemented. He strongly defended a "viable Palestinian state which is democratic and lives in peace and security with the State of Israel." As for Israel, it "can count on the international community, to the extent that it respects international law." But Ariel Sharon's building of the wall of separation between Israel and Palestine "does not do this," he said.
Relations between the US and Spain's Socialist government hit a new low this week when President George W. Bush invited Jose Maria Aznar, Spain's former prime minister, to the White House for a private 40-minute chat.
In a pointed snub to Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who succeeded Mr Aznar and who incurred the wrath of the US by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq, President Bush has not yet returned Mr Zapatero's courtesy call last week to congratulate him on his re-election victory.
