Spanish, Moroccan row flares
2002-09-23 22:25
Madrid - A row between Spain and Morocco over a deserted Mediterranean islet flared up again on Monday after Rabat cancelled talks at the last minute.
Morocco angrily alleged the Spanish navy had again
violated its airspace in what it sees a highly provocative act by
its estranged neighbour.
It said Spain had allowed a Cessna naval aircraft to overfly the disputed Mediterranean islet that in July became the focus of high tension between the two countries after a Moroccan military detachment landed on the uninhabited outcrop.
"A Cessna plane from the Spanish navy carrying the name Armada this morning violated our national air space," a statement from the Moroccan foreign ministry alleged.
"The Moroccan authorities once more forcefully denounce this new act of patent and manifest violation of national airspace," it added.
The statement distributed by the official news agency MAP said
the aircraft had "several times overflown not only the Moroccan
islet of Toura (also called Leila) but also the mainland region of Oued El Mersa, inland from the country's northern coast".
The tiny islet 200m off the Moroccan coast and is known as Perejil in Spain. In July the Spanish military kicked off Moroccan troops at gunpoint, in a crisis which threatened to pit Arab against European states.
Meeting called off
On Sunday, Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa suddenly called off his planned visit to Madrid on Monday for talks to heal relations in protest at the alleged violation of airspace.
Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said a Spanish navy aircraft had simply flown close to the island to investigate Moroccan military manoeuvres, but had not landed.
"I very much regret that Minister Benaissa will not be making his visit," Palacio said on Antena 3 television. "The Spanish navy did what it had to do, which is monitor whether the status quo (on the island) has been broken."
US Secretary of State Colin Powell helped broker the "status quo" agreement shortly after the confrontation ended in July. Under that deal Morocco and Spain agreed to return the craggy rock to its previously demilitarised status.
The latest diplomatic spat came only days before Morocco's parliamentary elections on Friday. Many Spanish media pundits suggested Moroccan Prime Minister Abderrahmane El Youssoufi's government was using Perejil to stir patriotic feeling.
'Simply neutral airspace'
The Spanish government denied in a statement on Monday that it had violated July's peace agreement in any way and expressed hope they would be rescheduled as soon as possible.
"It is impossible to talk of violating Moroccan airspace. Under the terms of the status quo deal, it is simply neutral airspace," Spanish Defence Minister Federico Trillo said.
He said the Spanish army had detected the presence of a Moroccan patrol boat about a mile from the islet and saw a dinghy being readied, with its destination unknown. The aircraft was despatched to investigate.
Benaissa had been due to visit Palacio on Monday in what Palacio called the "return match" of a trip she made to Rabat shortly after the showdown over the islet.
The two countries, neighbours across a narrow strait of the Mediterranean, have withdrawn ambassadors from each other's capitals and remain at odds on an array of issues including immigration, fishing rights and territorial disputes.
Territorial dispute
Underlying the diplomatic dispute over the status of Perejil is Morocco's insistence two Spanish enclaves on its northern coast, Ceuta and Melilla, should form part of its territory.
Madrid considers the enclaves, held by Spain for hundreds of years, integral parts of Spain and has consistently said their future is not up for negotiation.
Palacio said that, despite Monday's apparent diplomatic snub, relations with Rabat remained "as they were before".
Relations between the two are already strained over fishing, oil exploration off the Canary Islands, drug and people trafficking and Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in 1975.
The two countries are also at odds over the continued flow of
migrants crossing the 12km Strait of
Gibraltar and landing on southern Spain's Andalusian coast.
Some 4 000 people have died or disappeared since 1997, attempting to cross illegally from north Africa to Spain every year.
"We have a huge responsibility to mend this lapse in our relations with Morocco," said Palacio. "Especially the issue of illegal immigration, which is claiming thousands of lives."
- Sapa-AFP and Reuters