The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Madrid - Spain's new prime minister is fulfilling a promise to withdraw his country's troops from Iraq. Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced yesterday that Spain's 1,300-strong contingent will be brought home in "as short a time as possible." He had promised to remove Spanish troops unless military operations in Iraq were placed under United Nations control. Washington - President George W. Bush has denied that his administration began drafting plans for the invasion of Iraq shortly after the September 11 attacks, insisting he did not begin to focus on Iraq until nearly a year later. The comments came in response to the publication of excerpts from Plan of Attack, a new book that says Bush ordered Donald Rumsfeld, his defence secretary, to draw up a fresh war plan for Iraq in November 2001. The book quotes Bush saying the decision was held very closely because "I knew what would happen if people thought we were developing a potential war plan for Iraq," according to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy prior to its release next Monday. Baghdad - Five US Marines were killed in a day-long battle and six US soldiers were killed in other clashes during a weekend of bloodletting across Iraq, the military said. Vatican City - Pope John Paul has appealed for kidnappers in Iraq to release all their hostages and has urged an end to blood-letting across the Middle East.
