While Spanish police, who are holding in custody 10 suspects believed connected with the bombings which killed 202 people, ramped up their enquiries, Zapatero told El Pais newspaper the US-led "war on terror" had failed and Europe needed to find a new approach.

"We can't win against terrorism or rout it through wars, (which) are never an efficient way of eliminating or combatting groups of fanatics, radicals and criminals," he said.

Zatapero reiterated that Spain's 1,300 troops would only remain in Iraq after June if the United Nations took command of the occupation, which he described as a "disaster" while calling the conflict there a "big mistake" and "the management of the occupation a disaster".

Asked if the UN could take charge in Iraq before the current mandate of Spain's 1,300-strong contingent ended on June 30, Zapatero said: "I think that's possible."

He rejected accusations, particularly from the United States, that Spain was giving in to terrorism.

"The absolute priority remains the struggle against terrorism," he insisted, calling for better cooperation between intelligence services in Europe in echoing a conclusion reached at an emergency meeting of European Union interior and justice ministers in Brussels on Friday.

"There must be much more cooperation between the intelligence services and without any doubt we must do everything we can to reduce the origins of fanaticism and violence," he said.

Jose Bono, likely to serve as Zapatero's defence minister when his government takes office next month, warned that leaving the troops in Iraq would be tantamount to "turning our back on Spaniards," with the vast majority of the electorate opposed to the initial decision to send them in.

"We will not turn our backs on the United States ... an ally and a friend," Bono told ABC daily.

But he added: "What we are not going to do either is turn our back on Spaniards.

"Zapatero's engagement to put an end to terrorism is the priority. We want Spain to work together with other nations and pass through the door of peace rather than war," added Bono, currently leader of the northern region of Castilla La Mancha.

In Washington, European Commission president Romano Prodi said the US-led war in Iraq has not made the world safer from terror attacks.

"I don't think that in reality the situation in the fight against terrorists is better because of the war in Iraq, clearly it's not," Prodi told Fox News.

"We must fight against terrorists and be united against terrorism even if we think, interpret in a different way the effects of the Iraqi war," he said.

Pope John Paul II meanwhile sent a message of hope to the Spanish people as they continued to mourn the March 11 bombings.

"Love is stronger than death and hate," the pope said in Spanish, before urging the world to "remain hopeful, courageous and generous in the face of the suffering of so many families, the people of Madrid and the whole of Spain."

EU foreign ministers will on Monday start a week of talks aimed at forging a joint response to the Spanish bombings.

Intelligence chiefs from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain will meet in Madrid on the same day.

Britain's top police officer said in a pre-recorded television interview aired on Sunday that he wanted to see a new pan-European structure to fight terrorism, dubbing the Madrid bombings a "wake-up call".

"There needs to be far more coordination between member states in Europe to counter this threat," Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir John Stevens told BBC television.

EU heads of government are scheduled to meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for a summit which was supposed to focus on economic growth but which will be instead dominated by the Madrid massacre.

The bombings, the worst terrorist attack in Spanish history, have been claimed on behalf of Al-Qaeda as revenge for conservative Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's support for the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Al-Qaeda link has not been confirmed but Spanish police are focusing their investigations on Islamic extremist networks stemming mainly from Morocco. At least three Moroccans are among the 10 suspects in custody.

Spain will hold a state funeral for the victims of the blasts in Madrid on Wednesday.

Among leaders attending the funeral will be British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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