Spain's prime minister sworn in
Cabinet member plans visit to US to buttress ties
MADRID -- Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero became Spain's prime minister yesterday as he took the oath of office in a ceremony presided over by King Juan Carlos.
Zapatero, 43, placed his right hand on a copy of Spain's 1978 Constitution and recited the one-line oath at Zarzuela Palace, the king's residence outside Madrid.
''I promise, through my conscience and honor, to fulfill faithfully the obligations of the post of prime minister, with loyalty to the king, and to uphold the constitution as the fundamental law of the state, and to keep secret the deliberations of the Council of Ministers," Zapatero said.
Zapatero stood before a small table holding the constitution, a crucifix, and a centuries-old copy of the Bible, opened to a chapter of the Old Testament's Book of Numbers that deals with oaths.
Other dignitaries attending the brief ceremony included Queen Sofia, outgoing prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, and the chief justice of Spain's highest court.
Later, in his first act as prime minister, Zapatero visited a hospital where people injured in the March 11 train bombings in Madrid are recovering.
He then went to Atocha station, where one of the trains was bombed, and placed a bouquet of 12 red roses at a makeshift memorial.
Zapatero's first Cabinet meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, and the Spanish newspaper ABC reported that his foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, will travel to Washington on Tuesday to meet with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
ABC said the minister hopes to show American officials that Spain wants to maintain its current good relations with the United States, despite Zapatero's plans to pull Spanish troops from Iraq by June 30 unless the United Nations takes over political and military control of the occupation.
The Foreign Ministry said it could not confirm the report.
Zapatero, leader of Spain's Socialist Party, won approval from Parliament on Friday as prime minister following his party's victory in the March 14 general elections, which were overshadowed by the bombings that killed 191 people.
His party fell short of a majority in the election -- it won 164 of the 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, 12 short of a majority. But in Friday's parliamentary vote, Zapatero mustered the necessary cushion with help from small, mainly regional parties that together hold 19 seats.
His 16-member Cabinet -- eight men and eight women -- was to be sworn in at the palace today. The first Cabinet meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.
Zapatero has vowed to hold a hard line against terrorism and says he will bring home the 1,300 troops stationed in Iraq unless the United Nations takes military and political control of the occupation. He has set a deadline of June 30, when the troops' mandate expires.
