Spain Increases Military Presence in Moroccan Enclaves
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A Moroccan protester waves a Moroccan flag on the Moroccan coast, near the village of Belyounech
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MADRID,
August 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Spain dispatched Monday,
August 5, another patrol ship to keep watch over its enclaves on the
Moroccan coast. It now maintains four navy boats in the contested
area, maritime officials said.
The
“Serviola” was set to arrive early Tuesday, August 6, in the
enclave of Melilla, in northeastern Morocco, joining two patrol boats
that arrived on Saturday, August 3, and a corvette that has been
stationed in the region since mid-July, when Spain and Morocco clashed
over the status of a disputed rocky outcrop just off Morocco's
Mediterranean coast, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Maritime
officials said Madrid has recalled a fifth ship that was stationed
there since the row over the islet, known as Leila in Morocco and
Perejil in Spain.
"The
situation is absolutely normal as far as the protection of Spanish
territory is concerned," Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said on
Monday.
Morocco
has been stepping up claims to the territories Spain holds on and near
its coast, particularly the two enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta.
Moroccan
Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi said on Thursday, August 1,
Rabat was seeking to “recover all the regions and end the occupation
of the two towns of Ceuta and Melilla and despoiled nearby islands.”
Aznar
said Spain’s position with regard to Morocco was “very firm and
clear” and said he hoped cooperation between the two countries would
increase again following the intense row over the uninhabited islet
just 200 meters (yards) off the Moroccan coast.
On
July 17 Spain sent in troops to expel a dozen Moroccan soldiers who
were sent to Leila a week earlier, ostensibly to set up an observation
post to prevent drug and people smuggling.
Rabat
and Madrid have since agreed to keep their forces off the islet and
are set to hold talks on the issue in September 2002.
But
Spain has ruled out any negotiation over sovereignty of its north
African territories, with Foreign Minister Ana Palacio saying on
Sunday: “The status of Ceuta and Melilla is not in discussion and
not debatable.”
Spain
kept its claim to Ceuta and Melilla, both port cities on Morocco’s
north coast, along with three other territories after Morocco gained
independence from France in 1956.
Morocco
argues that the five, known collectively in Spain as the Plazas,
should be returned to its control just as Madrid has been demanding
that Britain relinquish sovereignty over Gibraltar on Spain’s
southern coast.
Moroccan
Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi told Parliament Thursday, August
1, his country would continue efforts to recover the Spanish North
African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, flanked by Moroccan territory.
“We
will continue our efforts to recover all the regions and end the
occupation of the two towns of Ceuta and Melilla and despoiled nearby
islands,” he said.
Youssoufi
told the assembly his country’s efforts to recover the enclaves had
to be based on “international legality, respecting the treaty of
friendship, cooperation and good neighborliness with Spain.”
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