Spaniard opens torture inquiry

A Spanish judge opened an inquiry on the Bush administration’s alleged torture of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, pressing ahead Wednesday with a drive that Spain’s attorney general has said should be waged in the United States, if at all.

Judge Baltasar Garzon, Spain’s most prominent investigative magistrate, said he was acting under this country’s observance of the principle of universal justice, which allows crimes allegedly committed in other countries to be prosecuted in Spain.

Spanish prosecutors have said any such inquiry should be carried out by the U.S.