Spanish Prime Minister-elect, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has warned he will pull troops out of Iraq unless the UN takes control of the region.
Mr Zapatero said the invasion and occupation of Iraq had been a 'disaster', and called for an international alliance and an end to what he described as 'unilateral wars'.
Mr Zapatero's Socialist Party won a shock victory in yesterday's Spanish elections after voters appeared to turn on the centre-right Popular Party government, led by Jose Maria Aznar, over its handling of the Madrid bombings that killed 200 people.
The Spanish government blamed the Basque armed separatist group ETA for the attacks, but the al-Qaeda terrorist movement is now thought to have been behind them.
Spain, which has more than 1,300 troops in Iraq, supported the US-led war effort last year despite domestic opposition.
The withdrawal of troops had been one of Mr Zapatero's election promises, but his party had not been expected to win.
