March 16, 2004

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro says 1,000 Latin American troops are "cannon fodder" in Iraq and calls for them to withdraw along with the Spanish unit they are serving in.

Castro, a fierce critic of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, applauded Spanish Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero for his decision to withdraw Spain's contingent of 1,300 troops by the June 30.

In a message published on Tuesday by the ruling Communist Party daily Granma, Castro said "more than 1,000 young men from small and impoverished Latin American countries were sent to Iraq as cannon fodder under the command of the Spanish Legion."

"The death of any of those youths is thus the responsibility of the Spanish state," he said. "The Latin American people have the right to expect the immediate return of those young men."

There are 380 Salvadoran, 370 Honduran and 300 Dominican soldiers in Iraq as part of the Spanish-led Plus Ultra Brigade.

The three Latin American countries said they intended to keep their contingents in Iraq even if the Spaniards leave.

The Dominican Republic government said its men would stay for the time being in Iraq, while El Salvador and Honduras said their troops would remain at least until the mandate given by their Congress runs out in August.

Nicaragua had 115 troops in Iraq until February, when they were pulled out as part of a normal rotation. Nicaragua says it cannot afford to replace them.

Zapatero, who defeated pro-U.S. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in an election on Sunday after suspected al Qaeda-linked train bombings in Madrid, strongly criticised the "disastrous" U.S.-led war in Iraq and said Spain's 1,300 troops should come home at the end of June unless the United Nations takes over operations in postwar Iraq.

Castro welcomed the Socialist victory in Spain and condemned the attacks that killed 201 people, lamenting that the Spanish people had paid the price of involvement in an unjustified war in Iraq.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4580296