Controversial terrorism congress brings 400 victims to Madrid

Jan 22, 2008, 11:47 GMT

Madrid - Spain's Crown Prince Felipe on Tuesday called for more efficient international cooperation against terrorism at a controversial congress which brought an estimated 400 victims to the Spanish capital Madrid.

Several Spanish victims' associations had said they would not attend the event, accusing it of being ideologically close to the conservative opposition.

The prince said nothing could compensate 'the many victims of the terrorist blight' for their loss.

The congress brought together mainly Spanish victims of the Basque separatist militant group ETA, but also victims from Latin America, Europe, the United States and Israel.

The audience applauded the presence of Clara Rojas, a Colombian former vice presidential candidate who was held hostage for more than five years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). She was released on January 10.

The congress staged by a conservative university sparked controversy in Spain, where several victims' associations described the event as politically orientated.

Conservative opposition leader Mariano Rajoy was on the guest list, but Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero declined an invitation.

Pilar Manjon, president of the largest association representing the victims of the Islamist train bombings that killed 191 people in Madrid in 2004, criticized the planned participation of Madrid cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco.

Some of the victims of the Madrid bombings were Muslims, Manjon pointed out, saying the congress should have been a secular event.

Spain's conservative opposition has turned terrorism into one of its main campaign themes, accusing Zapatero of having encouraged ETA by making a failed attempt to negotiate with the group in 2006.

The congress followed similar ones in Madrid, the Colombian capital Bogota and the eastern Spanish city of Valencia between 2004 and 2006.