José María Aznar has said that while he has heard Pope Benedict XVI being asked to apologise for a speech about the Islamic faith he made in Germany last weekend, he has not heard "any Muslims apologising to me for conquering Spain and staying for eight centuries."

The former president of the Spanish government was answering a question at the Hudson Institute in Washington, where he had earlier made a speech during which he said that international terrorism "threatens us all wherever we may be. We are at war. This is a war, and, to fight it, it is indispensable that we believe that we shall win, but, if you don't believe in anything, you can't fight against anything. The leaders of the western world don't believe."

The former PP leader also said that "Islamic fundamentalism must be confronted because there's no other option," and that the world is "under a constant attack against which it must defend itself. The West did not attack Islam, they attacked us."

He concluded his address by criticising "the lack of leadership in Europe," and "divisions" between European countries.