MADRID, April 18: Spain's new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Sunday he had given orders for Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq to come home as soon as possible.

Mr Zapatero made the surprise announcement in a televised statement just a day after he was sworn in as prime minister following his Socialist party's upset victory in a March 14 general election. His decision, taken much sooner than expected, creates more problems for the United States whose forces are locked in the fiercest fighting in Iraq.

Mr Zapatero said he had given new Defence Minister Jose Bono "the order to do what is necessary for the Spanish troops in Iraq to come home in the shortest possible time and the greatest possible safety". Mr Zapatero said repeatedly during the election campaign the troops would come home if the United Nations did not take charge in Iraq by June 30.

The pledge drew criticism from some US politicians. President George W. Bush urged Spain and other allies in Iraq to stick with Washington. Mr Zapatero waited only long enough for Mr Bono to be sworn in as defence minister to take his first major decision in what appeared to be an attempt to stop the issue from dogging his government.

He said he had decided to act now because he did not expect a UN resolution to be adopted "that conforms with the conditions we have set for our presence in Iraq". Opposition leader Mariano Rajoy condemned Mr Zapatero's decision, saying it made Spain more vulnerable to terrorism.

Meanwhile, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, was quoted in Cairo as saying that his country intended to pull its troops out of Iraq in 15 days. "(Egyptian Foreign Minister) Ahmed Maher received a telephone call today from...the new Spanish foreign minister.

He briefed him on the Spanish prime minister's intention to announce the withdrawal of Spanish forces from Iraq and that this (the withdrawal) will happen within 15 days," Egyptian news agency MENA reported. -Reuters