WE GET RESULTS! Last week I reported what Zapatero had really said in Tunis last week, calling all countries to withdraw their troops from Iraq so that it would "open up more favourable prospects", and noted that it hadn't been fully reported by the media which had limited themselves to the less inciendary parts of his speech.

Well, I must have very influential readers because, lo and behold:

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was at the centre of a diplomatic row with the United States over comments he made over pulling troops out of Iraq, it emerged Tuesday.

US diplomats in Madrid said they had asked for a clarification of his remarks in the form of a transcript.

The sources said Washington had asked for the transcript "so there can be no misunderstanding" after Zapatero justified his decision to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq shortly after taking office.

Zapatero told reporters during a visit to Tunis last week that "if more decisions were taken along the lines of (that) taken by the Spanish government, that would open up a more favourable prospect" of peace in Iraq.

Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos confirmed the US demand for a transcript, telling Spanish broadcaster TVE that Washington had "asked for clarification and the exact transcript of the text."

Of course I'm kidding about my influence, but it feels so good to pretend it!