Killed Agents Funeral

[xicamaluca]

The Kings and Felipe will be tomorrow in the funeral of the 7 spanish agents killed in Irak. The funeral of the agents will take place at the "Centro Nacional de Inteligencia - CNI" (National Center of Inteligence. The agents were from the spanish secret services) in Madrid, at 12.00 CET :( Is very likely that TVE broadcast the funeral as they did for the dead militaries killed in a plain crach last May.

Spain is in national mourning :cry

An article from ABC
http://www.abc.es/Nacional/noticia.asp?id=...76&dia=01122003

[xicamaluca]

Yahoo! News

Spain Mourns Agents Killed Near Baghdad
By JULIANE VON REPPERT-BISMARCK, Associated Press Writer

MADRID, Spain - A funeral was held Tuesday for seven military intelligence agents killed in an ambush in Iraq (news - web sites) as Spanish officials said they may have been betrayed by a traitor in their operations.

Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was to appear before Parliament to give an account of Saturday's shooting on a road south of Baghdad, the worst single attack on Spaniards in Iraq.

Defense Minister Federico Trillo said the attack may have been made possible by a mole working within the service in Iraq.

A government official said the intelligence agency's operations included Iraqi staff.

News reports said the ministry's suspicion of a traitor was fueled by the fact that the agents made last-minute changes in their trip Saturday, beginning their journey earlier and taking a different route than planned.

The daily El Mundo cited evidence from Jose Manuel Sanchez Riera, the sole survivor of the attack, that the eight agents had been traveling in two vehicles and came under fire from a car behind them. In the shootout that followed, the agents were also attacked from a nearby settlement.

Government officials said they expected Aznar, when he speaks to Parliament later Tuesday, would reiterate suspicions voiced by the Defense Ministry and intelligence service that agents in Iraq were being targeted systematically, and that the attack was linked to the October assassination of Jose Antonio Bernal, another Spanish agent killed by gunmen in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, the seven flag-draped coffins were taken from the Defense Ministry's military hospital to the headquarters of the National Intelligence Center for the midday service.

Bereaved relatives received condolences from King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and Prince Felipe. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, members of his Cabinet and many high-ranking politicians attended the service, which was televised live across Spain.

The king placed the Official Cross of the Order of Civil Merit on each coffin.

Trillo said the agents knew they were in a high-risk situation, since Spain had been receiving persistent threats prior to the attack.

The killings dealt a severe blow to Spain's intelligence service operating in Iraq and left Spanish troops vulnerable, an officer told the leading daily newspaper El Pais.

"Without them, we are left blind," Lt. Col. Jose Luis Gutierrez, the head of Spanish military operations in the Iraqi province of Najaf, told the paper.

Yahoo! News
Spanish King Juan Carlos places an official Cross of the Order of Civil Merit on one of the coffins of seven Spanish intelligence agents killed in an ambush in Iraq (news - web sites) during the state funeral at the National Intelligence Center on the outskirts of Madrid, December 2, 2003. Spain mourned the seven agents killed in Iraq hours before parliament was due to reopen a debate about the war in Iraq and how Spain ended up in the middle of it. REUTERS/POOL/Manuel Hernandez de Leon REUTERS

Yahoo! News
Spain's Crown Prince Felipe offers his condolences to relatives of the seven members of Spain's military intelligence agency killed in an ambush in Iraq (news -web sites) last Saturday during a funeral service in Madrid, Tuesday Dec, 2, 2003. (AP Photo/Manuel H. de Leon)

Yahoo! España
Los Reyes de España, don Juan Carlos y doña Sofía, y el Príncipe de Asturias, don Felipe de Borbón, presidieron hoy en la sede del Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI), en un ambiente de emoción y tristeza, los funerales por los siete agentes asesinados el pasado sábado al sur de Bagdad. (Europa Press)

[xicamaluca]

Hola
King Juan Carlos and Felipe paying their respects to the families

Hola
King Juan Carlos placing the Official Cross of the Order of Civil Merit on each coffin

El Mundo (originaly from EFE News Agency)
King Juan Carlos placing the Official Cross of the Order of Civil Merit on each coffin

Yahoo! News
Spain's Crown Prince Felipe, left, Queen Sofia, 2nd left, the Head of Protocol for King Juan Carlos, Alberto Aza Arias, 3rd left and King Juan Carlos stand over the coffins of the seven members of Spain's military intelligence agency killed in an ambush in Iraq (news - web sites) last Saturday during their funeral service in Madrid, Tuesday Dec, 2, 2003. (AP Photo/Manuel H. de Leon)

ABC
A very emocioned Queen Sofia

La Razón

casareal
S.M. el Rey impone la Cruz de Oficial de la Orden del Mérito Civil, a título póstumo, a uno de los siete miembros del Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) asesinados el pasado 29 de noviembre en Irak. Acompañaban a Don Juan Carlos, S.M. la Reina y S.A.R. el Príncipe de Asturias. También asistieron, junto al presidente del Gobierno y su esposa, los demás representantes de las Altas Instituciones del Estado. (Sede del CNI. Madrid, 2 de diciembre de 2003)

casareal
SS.MM. los Reyes y S.A.R. el Príncipe de Asturias, durante el funeral por los siete miembros del Centro Nacional de Inteligencia asesinados el pasado 29 de noviembre en Irak. En el acto, Don Juan Carlos impuso, a título póstumo, sendas condecoraciones a los fallecidos. También asistieron, junto al presidente del Gobierno y su esposa, los demás representantes de las Altas Instituciones del Estado. (Sede del CNI. Madrid, 2 de diciembre de 2003)

Yahoo! News
Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia offer their condolences to one of the relatives of one of the seven members of Spain's military intelligence agency killed in an ambush in Iraq (news - web sites) last Saturday during a funeral service in Madrid, Tuesday Dec, 2, 2003. (AP Photo/Pool, Manuel H. de Leon)

Yahoo! News
Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia offer their condolences to one of the relatives of one of the seven members of Spain's military intelligence agency killed in an ambush in Iraq (news - web sites) last Saturday during a funeral service in Madrid, Tuesday Dec, 2, 2003. (AP Photo/Pool, Manuel H. de Leon)