(ANSAmed) - MADRID, APRIL 19 - Qatar's ambassador to Spain,
George Massade, also president of a consortium of companies from
both countries, today defended the private trips made by King
Juan Carlos. He said that these trips have a positive impact on
Spain's foreign commercial and economic relations.
During the second business meeting between Spain and Qatar,
today in Madrid, Massad was quoted by the EFE agency as saying
that the Spanish king ''is a unique man''. Massad reportedly
praised the king's role as head of state and wished him a quick
recovery, together with around one hundred businessmen present
at the meeting.
Yesterday King Juan Carlos offered his apologies to the citizens
of Spain, an unprecedented initiative, while leaving the
hospital where he had been treated for a fracture of his right
hip. He had broken his hip during an elephant hunting safari in
Botswana.
In defence of the Spanish king, the ambassador said that the
king's ''influence'', as he had observed himself, goes beyond
his private trips because he ''does not only visit a country."
As evidence for his statement, Massad mentioned the fact that a
consortium of 12 Spanish companies won a contract for the
construction of a high-speed train line in the desert after a
visit by the Spanish king to Saudi Arabia. According to the
ambassador, Juan Carlos arranged for the Saudi sheikh Al Thani
to visit Spain: ''And now
Iberdrola and Bankia must be grateful,'' the diplomat concluded,
mentioning two Spanish banks. (ANSAmed).
