The cause of the fire at the Manezh where the roof caved in and only the

The cause of the fire at the Manezh, where the roof caved in and only the walls are standing, is not yet known but it is one of a series of disasters in recent years. The Manezh, once the Tsar’s Imperial Riding School which was built in 1817 to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon, had been used in recent times as an exhibition centre.There is no sign that Mr Putin will allow himself to be intimidated by such omens after his electoral triumph in which he won 71.2 per cent of the vote to secure a second four-year term. Yesterday, he was accused of having increased the threat to Britain from militant Islamic terrorism by attacking Iraq.Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, and Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, joined a string of Labour MPs in challenging Mr Blair’s judgement and warning that Britain faced a heightened risk of attacks from al-Qa’ida.Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said the war had not increased the threats facing Britain. “Mr Zapatero said his number one priority is fighting terrorism and there we agree.” But fallout from the Spanish election has emboldened Mr Blair’s critics at home. The two leaders are not expected to meet for more than a month ­ an extraordinary delay in the context of the political alliance and close friendship forged between Mr Aznar and Mr Blair. Mr Blair and Mr Zapatero spoke by telephone yesterday in what the spokesman said was a “warm and friendly” conversation. “It was a wide discussion but I’m not going to go over the detail of it,” the spokesman said.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said the Spanish people’s decision would be respected. President Bush placed a congratulatory call, expressing hope that the two countries would still co-operate on fighting terrorism, while avoiding the decision to withdraw Spanish forces from Iraq. “Military intervention in Iraq was a political mistake,” Mr Zapatero said yesterday. “It divided more than it united, there were no reasons for it Time has shown that the arguments for it lacked credibility. You cannot bomb by chance.”Downing Street and the White House avoided commenting on Mr Zapatero’s attacks, focusing instead in the need to co-operate against terrorism. The Government initially attempted to blame the Basque separatist group, Eta, for the atrocity. When it became apparent that groups affiliated to al-Qa’ida were almost certainly responsible, many Spaniards used the ballot to vent their anger at the Government’s support for the war, which they blamed for making the country a target of Islamic terrorists.In another blow to the British Government, Mr Zapatero also promised to relaunch his country’s policy of co-operation with Europe, turning his back on Mr Blair’s attempt to establish an alternative sphere of influence in the EU.

He told Spanish radio his triumph was a consequence of the conflict’s unpopularity with voters. But a more immediate explanation for the swing was last Thursday’s bomb attacks on Madrid which left 200 people dead. Spain’s incoming Socialist Prime Minister, Jos?uis Rodriguez Zapatero, the unexpected victor in Sunday’s general election, launched a withering attack on Tony Blair and George Bush yesterday over their decision to go to war in Iraq. Announcing that the 1,300 Spanish troops currently stationed in Iraq would be pulled out by the summer, the quietly spoken leader declared: “You can’t organise a war with lies.”Mr Blair and Mr Bush must do some reflection and self-criticism,” he added in remarkably frank comments for the next prime minister of Europe’s youngest democracy and fifth largest economy.Mr Zapatero was speaking a day after his Socialist Workers’ Party’s surprise election victory over the ruling Popular Party, which under the leadership of Jose Maria Aznar had strongly supported the war in Iraq. they were really hard slaps.” He said he had slapped her four times and pushed her over. She lost consciousness, but he thought that she had only passed out.