ISLAMABAD, April 4: Spain does not want new permanent members added to the United Nations Security Council, a visiting Spanish member of parliament said here on Tuesday. “We favour a longer term and more responsibility for the temporary members of the Security Council,” MP Juan Moscos said during a meeting between Spanish Casa Asia group and members of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI).

The interaction took place two days before Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz begins a visit to Spain after co-chairing a meeting on UN reforms in New York.

“We pursue a policy of ‘more aid, more trade’,” Mr Moscos informed the ISSI chairman Inamul Haq who wanted to know about Spain’s position on WTO talks and its ‘Alliance of Civilizations’ initiative to promote understanding through dialogue.

MP Moscos said he preferred “building bridges” rather than “alliance” between civilizations for which Casa Asia group was added to the international relations bodies created by Spanish government for different regions.

Ion de la Riva, giving the background of Casa Asia, said Spain developed new interest in Asia after the 2003 terrorist attacks in Madrid.

Spain seeks more intense political, cultural and trade relations with Pakistan because of its “geo-strategic location, Islamic roots and the vibrant 60,000-strong Pakistani community living in Spain”, he observed.

Spanish ambassador Jose Maria Robles Fraga, who accompanied the Casa Asia group to ISSI, said his country wanted to build on the goodwill it earned by rushing relief to the earthquake-hit Bagh area and extending a 10 million euros micro credit to Islamabad. Heated but friendly exchanges took place on “radical Islam” and the disregard for Muslims’ sensitivities in the West.

ISSI Director General Shireen Mazari asked why terrorism and extremism is associated with Muslims alone. “Fanaticism is the general trend — Hindu fundamentalism in India, fascism in northern Europe and some say a Christian fundamentalist is sitting in the White House”.

She said the West exposed its “secularism” by not enforcing its own laws limiting the freedom of expression in the case of the blasphemous cartoons but imprisoning an English author for questioning the Holocaust.

She urged the West to shed its “secular arrogance”.

MP Gustavo Aristegul, who has written a book on what he called “jihadist terrorism”, agreed with MNA Khurshid Alam Anwar that “moral values are universal and eternal” but disagreed with Dr Mazari over Al-Qaeda’s significance.

“In his book Ayman Al-Zawahiri has said ‘jihad’ not ‘dawa’ was the way to fill the ‘spiritual vacuum’ in Europe,” he said.

Though he acknowledged that Islam was misunderstood and misrepresented in the West, he said the situation was improving. “Now the Spanish media distinguishes between moderate Islam and radical Islam”.

In his opinion radical Muslims are not real Muslims. “The first victim of radical Muslims is Islam,” he said.