Musharraf to speak on terrorism in Madrid

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MADRID, Feb 25: About 20 world leaders will gather in Madrid for an international conference on terrorism coinciding with the first anniversary of the March 11 attack on Spanish commuter trains that killed 191 people.

The list of participants includes former US President Bill Clinton and the current heads of state from countries wracked by terrorist violence including Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf, according to the Spanish foundation for international relations, co-organizer of the March 8-10 event.

The Madrid Club, a group of former government officials involved in promoting democracy, will host the conference, which will adopt a plan for fighting terrorism that adheres to democratic principles, the organizers said.

The current president of the European Union, Luxembourg's prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will also come to Madrid along with the prime ministers of several European countries. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will take part in the closing of the conference.

At the same time, several demonstrations are planned on March 10-11 in memory of the victims of the attacks by Islamists, mostly Moroccans living in Spain with ties to Al Qaeda. On the morning of March 11 last year, four commuter trains were blown up by explosives a few minutes apart, killing 191 people and injuring 1,900 others. -AFP

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