SPAIN: Spain's former prime minister, Mr José María Aznar, will become the first former leader to be interrogated by a parliamentary commission later today when he answers questions on his actions, and those of his government, over the "M-11" terrorist attack in Madrid in March this year in which 191 people died. Jane Walker reports from Madrid.
It will be the first time Mr Aznar has returned to the Cortes (parliament) since his Popular Party was defeated by the Socialist Party (PSOE) in general elections only three days later. He is expected to defend his government's handling of the crisis and focus much of his evidence on the days between the bombing on March 11th and the elections on March 14th.
The PP has repeatedly accused the Socialists of manipulating the mood of the electorate in those dramatic days, causing them to cast their votes for PSOE.
The commissioners will almost certainly interrogate Mr Aznar on why he and his ministers continued to blame the Basque terrorist movement ETA for the blast, even after evidence linking the attacks to radical Islamic groups had been uncovered within hours of the bombings.
Mr Aznar will be accompanied by Mr Angel Acebes, his interior minister when the bombings occurred; by Mr Ignacio Astarloa, the former secretary of State for security, and Mr Eduardo Zaplana, the ex-government spokesman. All three have already given evidence before the commission and have denied any inefficiency or lack of co-ordination.
Only two weeks ago Mr Astarloa told the commissioners that he still had not totally ruled out a Basque connection, although he offered no evidence to support this claim.
Although his party has given no clear hints as to his evidence, Mr Aznar is expected to stress PP's strong record in the fight against terrorism and the success in clamping down on ETA. Few people believe Mr Aznar will admit to making mistakes.
Several of the parties have said they are sceptical that Mr Aznar will offer anything new, but they intend to question him on why PP ignored the Islamic terrorist threat.
"We want to ask him why his party was obsessed with the ETA theory when they had no proof, and why they ignored Europol warnings that Spain was a target particularly after the Casablanca bombings," said the spokesman for ERC, the Catalan Republican Party.