x
March 14 -- Spanish and Russian voters are choosing anew president today, and some see cause for American concern in both countries.
Critics of the Russian election note that opposition media has been intimidated, and rarely covers opposition candiadates.
Spain's election comes as authorities are still struggling todetermine just who was responsible for setting off the 10 bombs thatkilled 200 and injured more than 1,500 during the morning rush hour onThursday. Al Qaeda and the Basque separatist group ETA have been mentioned as suspects.
On ABCNEWS This Week, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell gave his thoughts on the Spanish attacks, and what they could mean to Spanish-American relations and the war on terror. He also voiced concerns about developments in Russia.
Following are excerpts of the conversation:
George Stephanopoulos, ABCNEWS' This Week anchor: Al Qaeda seems to claim credit for the bombing. Do you believe it?
Secretary of State Colin Powell: Don't know. The Spanish authorities are examining the tape that suddenly appeared, as well as examining the individuals,interrogating the individuals they've picked up. I think Spain still considers that ETA could be a candidate for responsibility for this act. But they're keeping themselves open to al Qaeda or others. We just don't know yet. … This is not the first time that Spain has dealt with terrorist incidents. In fact, long beforeterrorism became such an issue for us, it has been an issue forSpanish authorities as a result of ETA terrorist activities, anorganization that is on our list of terrorist organizations. So they're good at this, and I'm sure that the Spanish authorities will get to the bottom of it, find out who was responsiblefor this terrible tragedy.
George Will, ABCNEWS' This Week: "[There are] two ways Spain could react to this. They could say, 'This hit us because we got implicated with the United States.' Or they could react and say, 'We're not going to be pushed around.'If the governing party loses [in elections] today, would that be an ominous signfor the ability of terrorists to shift opinion?
Powell: I think what we saw right after the incident was Spaincoming together. And there was that remarkable scene in Madrid ofhundreds of thousands of Spaniards coming out to denounce terrorism.I don't think the case has been made that somehow this will causeSpain to step back from the war against terrorism or step back fromtheir efforts at working with the United States. Even the oppositionparty, challenging the P.P. Party, as it's called, knows that with aU.N. mandate, they should keep their forces in Iraq.So I hope that this will not change Spanish attitudes toward thewar on terror or toward their efforts in Iraq. I think Spain has beenon the right side of this issue, both with respect to terror and withrespect to Iraq, and I hope the Spanish people will continue to movein that direction and vote in that direction.
Related Stories
ABC News Live