March 8, 2005
Harsh words for US anti-terror strategy at Madrid conference
Agence France Presse

The US anti-terrorism strategy has come in for sharp criticism at an international conference that opened here, as Spain prepared to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the deadly train bombings in the capital.

MADRID (AFP) - The US anti-terrorism strategy has come in for sharp criticism at an international conference that opened here, as Spain prepared to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the deadly train bombings in the capital.

Several members of the Club of Madrid, the body organising the three-day symposium on terrorism and democracy, and other participants warned that the United States' use of force and curbs on civil liberties risked being counterproductive.

The comments reflected a trend of thought at the event, which is bringing together leaders and top officials from dozens of countries and international institutions under heavy security.

Attendees over the course of the three days include UN chief Kofi Annan (news - web sites), King Juan Carlos of Spain, European Commission (news - web sites) President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, EU foreign policy supremo Javier Solana, NATO (news - web sites) Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and UN nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

The presidents of Afghanistan (news - web sites), Algeria, the Dominican Republic, Pakistan and Portugal, as well as several European heads of government are also expected, as are other senior government officials, around 200 terrorism experts and personalities such as Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Just before the conference opened, Spanish authorities arrested a Moroccan man near Madrid who was allegedly linked to the cell of Islamic extremists behind last year's attacks, in which 191 people were killed and 1,900 were wounded.

Another 22 suspects -- most of them Moroccan -- are in custody in Spain in connection with the March 11, 2004 blasts, which have been tied to Al-Qaeda.

Spain's Prince Felipe inaugurated the conference by stressing the "profound grief" felt in his country after the attacks.

He called for greater international cooperation to make the "eradication" of terrorism a priority.

On Friday, Spain will commemorate the bombings, though families of the victims said they would display their grief in private, avoiding the public ceremonies.

On that first anniversary, church bells will ring out across the capital at the precise moment a year ago the explosions ripped through crowded commuter trains.

Although memories of the carnage loom large over the conference, the strategies of countries fighting terrorism have also come under scrutiny -- with the United States targeted for implicit or explicit criticism.

Club of Madrid chief and former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso said states must not take a the-end-justifies-the-means approach.

"One can resort to the use of force if it is necessary -- but it must strictly adhere to international law," he said.

Mary Robinson, a former Irish president and former UN high commissioner for refugees who is now vice-president of the Club of Madrid, warned of "a knock-on effect of a lowering of (democratic) standards" by some countries.

She cited the US Patriot Act -- a controversial piece of legislation that curbs civil liberties in the name of enhanced security in the United States -- and the US military detention camp in Guantanamo as examples.

George Soros, the billionaire US financier who spent millions last year trying to stop President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s reelection, was the most direct, saying Washington's strategy was creating anger and resentment around the world.

"The attitude of creating innocent victims creates terrorists. It's as simple as that," he told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.

Soros added that Iraq (news - web sites) was more dangerous for Americans now than before the US-led war on that country to stop supposed weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists.

Bush's administration is represented at the conference by the new US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, a key figure in the "war on terror" waged since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

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