Spain's new Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has ordered Spanish troops in Iraq to return home.

Spain has about 1,300 troops stationed in southern central areas of Iraq.

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"I have given the order to the defence minister to take the necessary measures so that Spanish troops are withdrawn from Iraq as soon as possible and with maximum security," he said in a televised address to the nation a day after formally taking office.

Following his Socialist Party's win in the general election last month, Zapatero had vowed to recall Spanish troops from Iraq unless they come under UN command by June 30, when their mandate expires.

On Friday, US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to give the UN a central role in the transfer of power to the Iraqi interim government, planned for June 30.

The move had been seen as a way to keep countries like Spain on board with the US-led coalition.

Zapatero gave no details on the timetable for the withdrawal.