Spanish Troops Withdraw from Leila Islet

MADRID, July 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Spain and Morocco reached an agreement Saturday, July 20, to end a dispute over the Mediterranean islet of Leila, after which Spain withdrew its troops from the islet off the Moroccan coast.

The accord followed intense U.S. mediation, the Spanish government confirmed Saturday.

The resolution will return the uninhabited islet of Perejil, the Spanish name for the islet, to the status it had before July 11, when the dispute began after Spain sent in troops to evict the Moroccan soldiers who had been deployed to clamp down on drug trafficking, illegal immigration and international terrorism.

"The United States welcomes the understanding reached by Morocco and Spain over the island, following consultations by the United States with each side," U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell said in a brief statement, carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"In accordance with this understanding, the two sides have agreed to restore the situation regarding the island that existed prior to July 2002," he said.

"We believe this understanding is in the interests of both countries and can serve as the basis for further steps in improving their bilateral relations."

A State Department official declined to give details of the settlement, saying that would be up to the Spanish and Moroccan governments.

However, Powell, who had made at least 14 phone calls to Spanish and Moroccan officials since Thursday, July 18, had been pushing for a deal in which both sides would remove from the island any "outposts, flags and/or symbols of sovereignty," according to U.S. officials.

Once they took that step, which would return to the status quo before the dispute, the two countries would then follow up with ministerial-level talks to work out a permanent solution to the territorial dispute over the 33-acre (13.5-hectare) island, the officials said.

Powell's mediation in the matter came in response to appeals for help from both countries, the State Department official told AFP.

"At their request, the secretary has been in close touch with both Spanish and Moroccan officials to facilitate a peaceful settlement," the official said.

"We are pleased to confirm that Spain and Morocco have reached a mutually acceptable solution," the official said.

Just an hour earlier, the official had said that Morocco was balking at the U.S. plan, insisting that the deal include other disputed islands.

On Friday, July 19, Powell spoke several times each with Morocco's King Mohammad VI and Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa, as well as Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, but was unable to forge a compromise, said AFP.

On Saturday, Spanish soldiers arrested a young Moroccan who paddled out to the island about 200 yards (180 meters) from the Moroccan coast on an inflatable raft with two Moroccan flags in an apparent gesture of defiance.

Benaissa pledged Friday to keep Moroccan soldiers off the island if Spain removed its troops. But Spanish Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy said Madrid required an official response, keeping the dispute alive.

A Spanish government spokesman said Saturday that Madrid had "the desire and hope for a rapid accord."

The United States stepped in to mediate after other major international actors lined up on either side of the dispute, with NATO and the European Union supporting Spain while the Arab League and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council backed Morocco's calls for Madrid to withdraw.

The row is the latest of many between Morocco and Spain, which have clashed over clandestine immigration, fishing rights and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Morocco accused Spain of, in effect, making a "declaration of war" by sending in troops to evict the Moroccan soldiers who had been deployed to clamp down on drug trafficking, illegal immigration and international terrorism.