WASHINGTON, March 17: US President George Bush urged the world to stand firm against terrorism as countries around the globe tightened security on Wednesday amid fears of extremist attacks similar to the Madrid bombings.
"I think terrorists will kill innocent life in order to try to get the world to cower. I think - these are cold-blooded killers. I mean, they'll kill innocent people to try to shake our will," Mr Bush said on Tuesday.
"They have not only killed in Spain, they've killed in the United States, they've killed in Turkey, they've killed in Saudi Arabia. They kill wherever they can. And it's essential that the free world remain strong and resolute and determined," he said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair echoed Mr Bush's words on Wednesday, telling the lower house of parliament that the world had a choice - "to confront terrorism, or to be defeated by it".
In the wake of the Madrid train bombings that killed 201 last Thursday, Mr Blair said the world faced "a war on our way of life, a war on our freedom". He was speaking only a day after Britain's most senior police official said London was a potential target.
"It is a war, it is a war on our way of life, a war on our freedom," he said, appealing for "the whole of the international community to stand firm" in confronting the likes of the Al Qaeda network.
SECURITY TIGHTENED: Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes announced a series of reinforced security measures. Ports, airports, sporting venues and the country's transport, communications and energy networks would all get extra police protection while the armed forces would boost surveillance of borders, the airspace, territorial waters and "sensitive installations", Mr Acebes said.
He also said Spain's investigation into the Madrid attacks was in a "decisive phase", as police reportedly hunted accomplices of a Moroccan suspect in custody.
"We have good leads but we have to stay discreet," Mr Acebes told a news conference, without giving details. Spanish media reports spoke of a police hunt in the Arab community in and north of Barcelona for possible accomplices of Jamal Zougam, a 30-year-old Moroccan among five people arrested on the weekend who is believed to have helped carry out the bombings.
South Korea and Australia, both US allies in Iraq, on Wednesday announced steps to increase their readiness against terrorist attacks. Australia announced a funding boost worth 300 million US dollars to its frontline intelligence agencies, and said it would launch its largest ever counter-terrorism exercise on Monday to test new defences.
Acting South Korean President Goh Kun put his country on high alert against a possible terrorist attack. "Those countries which have their troops stationed in Iraq have become main targets for terrorist attacks.
South Korea, in some respects, is a country that should be on a high state of alert against terrorism," spokesman Kim Duck-Bong quoted Mr Goh as saying. -AFP