Spanish troops will leave a disputed islet off the Moroccan coast on the condition that Rabat promises to never again send its troops there, Spain’s Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said on Thursday.
Under growing international pressure to peacefully resolve their row — and with Rabat accusing Madrid of making a ”declaration of war” — Palacio insisted that Spain’s dawn commando raid to retake the island was merely aimed at restoring the status quo.
”Spain would have liked to have concluded a deal and not undertake this operation,” she said on national television.
”What Spain wants is to re-establish the status quo.”
”There should be a serious status quo, with guarantees, that is to say that if Spain abandons the islet, the Moroccans should never return,” the foreign minister said, adding such a pledge from King Mohammed VI would be sufficient.
Morocco’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa claimed on Wednesday that Madrid had sent in its troops only minutes after a deal had been struck after US mediation — an assertion that Palacio denied.
Benaissa described Wednesday’s raid by Spain — in which a handful of Moroccan troops were expelled — as ”a reprehensible act which is equivalent to a declaration of war.”
He also reiterated assertions that the islet, known as Perejil in Spain and Leila in Morocco and situated just over 100 metres from the north African coast, was an ”integral part” of Moroccan territory.
Moroccan soldiers landed on the uninhabited outcrop — an unremarkable bathing spot and normally home to just a few goats — last Thursday, ostensibly to set up an ”observation post” as part of a campaign to prevent terrorism and illegal immigration.
But Spain insisted their presence there was a violation of Spanish sovereignty, and promptly sent warships into the area and recalled its ambassador to Rabat over the issue.
The row is the latest in a string of disputes between Morocco and Spain, Rabat’s second-largest trading partner. In the past year they have also clashed over illegal immigration, fishing rights and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
With relations between Spain and Morocco hitting an all-time low, the international community rallied to pull the two sides back from the brink.
Deputy US Secretary of State Richard Armitage made numerous phone calls to the Spanish and Moroccan foreign ministers overnight seeking to mediate, while UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also stepped in with a mediation offer.
”We are trying to help the parties, our friends on both sides, work this out in a peaceful manner,” US State Department representative Richard Boucher said.
”Both Spain and Morocco are longstanding friends of the United States.”
A UN representative said Annan ”regrets any unilateral action taken so far and hopes that both parties will adhere to their original undertaking to resolve the issue through peaceful means.”
But Spain’s foreign minister asserted that the UN’s mediation offer would not be immediately taken up, saying the crisis could be worked out in direct talks.
The status of the islet has been ambiguous since Madrid’s protectorate over nearby parts of Morocco came to an end in 1956.
Madrid maintains that for the past 40 years both sides have adhered to an agreement not to occupy the 13,5-hectare isle, although Rabat insists the question of ownership had never been settled.
Nato and the 15-member EU have backed Spain, but the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) have sided with Morocco. – AFP
