Spain to cede Iraq base to U.S.
By CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spain has said it will cede its military base in Iraq to the United States between May 15 and 17.
Defense Minister Jose Bono declared Monday that all Spanish troops could be out of Iraq sooner than the May 27 pullout date previously announced, officials told CNN.
Any remaining Spanish troops in Iraq after May 17 -- and until their departure -- would continue to be stationed at the base in Diwaniya, south of Baghdad, even though the base will be under U.S. control, the defense ministry spokesman said.
The announcement of the transfer of base control to the Americans came a day after Bono made a surprise visit to his remaining troops in Iraq.
He spent just a short time on the ground Sunday at the Diwaniya base. His trip was kept largely secret for security reasons.
An aide to Bono said he hinted to the troops that their scheduled withdrawal could be completed sooner than the announced date, if the security situation in Iraq permits. On Monday, he reiterated that position, back in Madrid.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced last month -- a day after he was sworn in -- that Spain's troops would leave Iraq before June 30. Zapatero later set the cutoff date of the 27th.
At the time of the initial withdrawal announcement, there were 1,430 Spanish troops in Iraq. Nearly half of them have already left.
Zapatero's Socialist government took power in April after defeating Jose Maria Aznar's conservative Popular Party in an election held three days after the March 11 Madrid train bombings that killed 190 people -- attacks blamed on Islamic terrorists.
Zapatero campaigned on a promise to withdraw Spanish troops from the U.S.-led coalition unless the United Nations was given military and political control in Iraq by June 30.
