The government-backed Peace Malaysia coalition sent a memorandum to the Spanish embassy today, urging Madrid to retract its support for the United States-led military strike o­n Iraq.

A five-member delegation led by MCA Youth chief o­ng Tee Keat met with Spanish ambassador Alvaro Iranzo for about an hour at the embassy in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

More than 30 supporters, mostly MIC Youth Brigade members, gathered outside, with 10 police officers looking o­n.

Third memo

The others in the delegation were Association of Women Lawyers deputy president Yasmin Syariff, Umno Youth exco Ismail Sabri Yaakob, MIC Youth information chief V Mugilan and Keadilan acting Youth chief Mohd Zahid Mat Arip.

The memorandum this morning was the third submitted to a US ally this week. The first two were sent to the Australian and British high commissions.

Speaking to reporters later, o­ng said Peace Malaysia was disappointed with Spain's support for the invasion of Iraq by coalition troops which started o­n March 20.

"Although Spain is not involved in the military strike, we are concerned about their stand in the United Nations to support the US.

"We understand that even in Spain, there are three million people participating in anti-war demonstrations. This shows that the attack o­n Iraq is not supported anywhere," he said.

He said the memorandum was appended with some of the 2.5 million signatures collected from Malaysians by Peace Malaysia since late January.

Stand explained

"We told the ambassador about Peace Malaysia's stand which is endorsed by many Malaysians.

"We are very concerned about the suffering and loss of lives in Iraq," said the deputy sports and youth minister.

Asked how the ambassador reacted to the memorandum, o­ng said Iranzo explained and reiterated his government's stand o­n the war.

"We hope he (Iranzo) will forward our memorandum to his government as soon as possible," o­ng said.

Peace Malaysia is an Umno Youth-led coalition claiming the participation of over 100 Malaysian non-governmental organisations.

It was set up in late January to protest against the then impending war o­n Iraq.