Sebta, Mellilia must be object to negotiations similar to those on gibraltar, paper
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 11/28/2001

Moroccan daily Al Alam on Tuesday called on Spain to negotiate the retrocession of Sebta and mellilia, the two Moroccan northern cities it is still occupying.

The daily, mouthpiece of the nationalist Istiqlal party (in the government coalition), urged Spain to adopt the same logic adopted in the issue of Gibraltar (controlled by Britain) and in the same free spirit that bans the resort to two opposed methods for handling a same issue.

The daily sees in the liberation of Gibraltar through negotiations between Madrid and London "a means to change the mentality of Spain, which is occupying Sebta, mellilia and the neighboring islands" (Jaffarine Islands).

The editorialist notes that Spain knows better than anyone else that the occupation of Sebta was bequeathed to it by Portugal and that it occupied Mellilia decades later, after Moroccans fiercely opposed this occupation, recalling that this occupation dates back to the era when Spaniards chased Arabs from Andalusia and decided to occupy a part of Northern Morocco to bar the way to a possible return of Arabs and Moroccans.

This is all part of ancient history. The world has changed and now obeys a new mentality requiring economic and cultural cooperation and understanding for the settlement of problems, the daily wrote, adding when negotiating the fate of Gibraltar with London, Spain is logically called to include in its agenda negotiations on Sebta and Mellilia, to serve its own interest and the interest of Morocco.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco will face up in appropriate time any decision to impose visas for entry in Sebta and Mellilia   (11/1/2001)
  More than 240 Moroccan Illegal Immigrants Arrested in Sebta in Nine Days   (8/9/2001)
  Morocco convinced Spain will respond to morocco's claims over occupied towns   (2/7/2001)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search