MADRID, April 11 (UPI) -- Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has accused his successor of making "unfounded accusations" against his administration, El Pais said Monday.
Aznar's allegations against current Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero pertain particularly to his actions following the March 11, 2004, terror attacks in Madrid that claimed 191 lives and injured 1,500 others.
The attacks were attributed to a group linked with al Qaida and came just days before the nation's elections. The socialist Zapatero -- who was trailing well behind in the polls before the attack -- pledged to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq if elected, which he did just months later. He also said the foreign policy of Aznar's center-right Popular Party was, in part, to blame for the deadly blasts on the Madrid subway.
The former prime minister's ire toward Zapatero is manifest in his recently released memoir "Retratos y perfiles" (Portraits and Profiles). In it, Aznar talks about his close ties with the Bush administration, which considered Spain an important ally in the War on Terror until relations cooled after Zapatero pulled the nation's troops from Iraq.
Aznar also praised British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his centrist politics and policies.
