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Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the conservative Partido Popular yesterday made a speech in which he demanded that Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero appear before Parliament and ‘state truthfully once and for all’ to tall all of Spain that the Basdque terror group Eta was lying when it claimed that a prior agreement over a ceasefire had been agreed prior to the Socialists coming to power, and exactly when the Socialists had accepted the demands for self-determination for the Basque Country. According to Mr. Rajoy, if there are any indications that this was agreed prior to the Socialists coming to power, Mr. Rajoy stated that he would immediately demand the resignation of the Prime Minister. He made these demands as later today every major city in Spain is set to stage a demonstration against any negotiation with Eta on the ninth anniversary of the assassination of Miguel Angel Blanco in Ermua.
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Eduardo Zaplana, the Partido Popular spokesman in Parliament, yesterday presented a further two hundred questions to the Government ‘over the falsehoods and contradictions that still exist with regard to the March 11 Bombings’. He went on: “Every single day, more doubts appear that set the Government’s version of the bombings in serious doubt. For instance, we still have no idea as to who placed the bombs on the trains, nor their composition, which has led to the inevitable conclusion that two years after the bombings took place, there are more unknown elements remaining than there are true facts.”
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It became apparent yesterday that Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero would, after all, be attending the funeral of the Spanish soldier killed in Afghanistan. Initially, a brief statement from the Moncloa palace revealed that Mr. Rodriguez Zapatero would not be attending the funeral services, but half an hour later, after Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the Partido popular would be attending, the Prime Minister allegedly changed his mind.
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There appear to be serious misgivings amongst the Spanish business Community after it became apparent that Miguel Sebastian, the Financial Advisor to the Prime Minister would be named as Finance Minister. Insiders have revealed that shortly after acceding to power, the businessmen had some severe misgivings about the new Prime Minister , and these were only calmed with the appointment of Pedro Solbes as Finance Minister. However, Mr. Solbes is reportedly seriously disillusioned with his appointment as many of his decisions have been undercut by Mr. Sebastian, who has very little standing amongst the Madrid financial community.
Jose Ramón Garcia Anton the Conseller for Infrastructures and Transport, yesterday made a lengthy statement to the Valencian Parliament over the accident on the Line 1 of the Valencian Metro Service ion which 42 people died. In his report to Parliament, which Mr. Garcia Anton insisted was based on the entire truth, the Conseller stated that speed was the main reason for the crash, and that the train had been traveling at 80 Km/hr, when in fact it should have been traveling at half that speed. He added that the automatic braking system, known as FAP apparently failed to cut in. When asked whether the train driver had undergone some sort of attack, Mr. Garcia Anton replied that he had no idea. However, he added that the FAP braking system was installed on line 1 by the Socialist Government under Joan Lerma, and that since the Partido Popular had come to power a different automatic braking system was in use.
In what was seen as yet another attack on the Valencian community, Environment minister Cristina Narbona yesterday gave her version of the current Valencian water crisis. The Valencian Government as well as the ministry had been warning that ‘considerable’ water cuts could affect the Community during July and August, the hottest and busiest months of the year. In her statement yesterday, Miss Narbona stated that it was the fault of the tourists that the water reserves were so low.
More than 160 people are reported to have died after a series of what appeared to be coordinated bombings shook commuter trains in Bombay yesterday afternoon. The bombs struck the first class compartments of the trains as well as in the stations of the western line of Bombay – Mumbai – the economic capital of India. More than 480 people were injured in the bombings, which occurred during the rush hour. Local authorities stated last night that the numbers of dead could well rise due to the seriousness of the condition of some of the injured
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The death was revealed yesterday of Syd Barrett, the eccentric guitarist who founded the Pink Floyd. He later left the music business and became a virtual recluse. He was 60.
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