RABAT,
July 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Morocco and Spain prepared
Sunday, July 21, for in-depth talks on their troubled relations after
a Spanish garrison withdrew from a Moroccan islet, ending a row that
turned an obscure outcrop in the Mediterranean into a major
international incident.
Witnesses
said Spanish flags were removed shortly after Madrid announced a deal
with Rabat brokered by Washington to end the 10-day crisis late
Saturday, July 20.
Helicopters
withdrew Spanish soldiers who had earlier evicted a Moroccan
contingent, escalating the storm.
A
foreign ministry spokesman in Rabat reported the withdrawal of the
Spanish forces from the islet, called Perejil in Spain and Leila in
Morocco.
The
crisis between Spain and Morocco about the islet of Leila off the
Moroccan coast is “a false litigation”, wrote the Spanish
historian Maria Rose de Madariaga in the July 17 edition of the
Spanish daily newspaper El Pais.
The
crisis simply “does not have reason to exist,” said De Madariaga.
Perejil - the Spanish name for Leila - does not enter into Spanish
sovereignty, and Morocco has every right to consider it “freed
territory” on the basis that Spain, in 1956, ended its colonization
of the north of the country, including the two enclaves of Ceuta and
Melilla.
Morocco’s
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Tayeb Fassi Fihri told Agence
France-Presse (AFP) that talks between the Spanish and Moroccan
foreign ministers in Rabat on Monday would cover Leila as well as all
other subjects that had “troubled” relations between the two
countries.
Spain’s
Ana Palacio is to meet Morocco’s minister Mohamed Benaissa.
Fassi
Fihri declared: “Morocco notes with satisfaction that, a few days
after the occupation of the islet by the Spanish forces, the
evacuation has taken place permitting dialogue to resume.”
The
July 11 arrival of a dozen Moroccan soldiers on the uninhabited rocky
outcrop 200 yards (meters) off Morocco’s Mediterranean shore caused
shockwaves from Madrid to Brussels to Washington.
Saturday’s
deal followed intense U.S. mediation. In Washington, U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell first announced the two sides had reached an
“understanding.”
In
Madrid the Spanish government confirmed it had an agreement with Rabat
that envisaged the return to the status quo existing before July. From
Spain’s viewpoint this means the island will be demilitarized with
forces of neither side occupying it.
But
Morocco, in a brief statement, announced the departure of the Spanish
soldiers from the Moroccan islet, clearly implying it had not given up
its claim.
Officially,
Morocco sent its controversial landing party to set up an observation
post as part of the fight against terrorism and clandestine
emigration.
The
Spanish military evicted the Moroccans six days later. The 75-strong
Spanish force that took possession hauled down the flags and departed
late Saturday.
The
row is only the latest between Morocco and Spain, which have clashed
over clandestine immigration, fishing rights and the disputed
territory of Western Sahara.
Spain
claims the island has for 40 years had a status accepted by both
Morocco and Spain whereby neither would occupy it. Madrid accused
Morocco of unilaterally breaking the understanding.
In
Washington Powell said: “The United States welcomes the
understanding reached by Morocco and Spain over the island, following
consultations by the United States with each side.
“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.
Powell,
who had made at least 14 phone calls to Spanish and Moroccan officials
since Thursday, 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.
Thereafter
the two countries would then negotiate a permanent settlement on the
33-acre (13.5-hectare) island, the officials said.
Powell’s
mediation came in response to appeals from both countries, the State
Department officials said. “The Spanish government thanks Secretary
of State Colin Powell for the work done in order to reach this
agreement,” the Spanish statement said.
Fassi
Fihri for Morocco also thanked the U.S. administration, along with
“other European and Arab states,” for their efforts to restore
normalcy.
The
U.S. 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.
Morocco
accused Spain of a “declaration of war” by sending in troops to
evict the Moroccan soldiers.
In
Brussels, the European Commission expressed satisfaction at the
outcome saying it was “good news for the two countries and
Europe.”
European
diplomats had earlier criticized the European Union’s executive
branch for rushing to Madrid’s side early in the dispute. E.U.
Commission chief Romano Prodi first claimed in an initial show of
solidarity: “This is territory of the European Union.”
