CANBERRA - Australia refused on Tuesday to apologise to Spain and the Philippines after blaming them for encouraging militants to issue threats by withdrawing their troops from Iraq.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Spain and the Philippines needed “to face up to the truth” that terrorists, who were using them as examples when threatening other countries with attack, were exploiting them.
Spain summoned Australia’s ambassador in Madrid on Monday to protest Downer’s comments over the past two days, which it described as “unacceptable”.
“There’s no point in trying to scurry away from the truth ... I am sensitive about the fact that terrorists use the examples of Spain and the Philippines in order to put pressure on Australia,” Downer told Australian radio.
“If you accede to the demands of terrorists they will exploit the acceding to their demand ... we are not going to apologise. We’ll let bygones be bygones,” he said.
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