El Pais: Morocco wants to use Leila Island to fight terrorism
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 7/15/2002

Moroccan minister of culture and communication called Spain not to exaggerate Morocco's setting of a surveillance post in the tiny island of Leila, stressing that Morocco wanted to use differently the island, which is part of its territory, in the fight against illegal migration and terrorism.

The official told Spanish wide-circulation daily "El Pais" that Morocco is not occupying this island, a 13.5 Hectares wide-land located less than 200 meters from the Moroccan Mediterranean coast at 40 KM east of Tangiers, because it is already part of its territory and does not belong to Spain. He further explained that at the end of the protectorate in 1956, the Island became Moroccan, as it is also evinced by the permanent presence of Moroccan civilians and authority over the last 45 years.

After he voiced astonishment at the Spanish government's response which he called "disproportionate," he said the Moroccan initiative was meant to improve the fight against the flows of illegal migration and activities of international terrorism, causes that are common not only to Morocco and Spain, but also to Europe.

The Minister who further called for the departure of the Spanish patrol boats anchoring in the region, said Morocco is shouldering its national and international responsibilities in matters of illegal migration control and insisted that setting a surveillance post in the island of Leila is not an act against Spain "a friend of Morocco."

Meanwhile, he further said, unlike the Leila Island, the Chaafarine Islands case is an anachronistic remnant of the colonial period and Morocco is claiming these islands together with the cities of Sebta and Melilia.

Regarding Moroccan-Spanish tense relations, he said it is useless to pretend that there are no problems. On the contrary, he argued, we should sit, the soonest, at a negotiating table to address each of the problems and discuss them thoroughly and frankly.

A top ranking-official at the Moroccan ministry of foreign affairs and cooperation announced on Thursday that Morocco has set a surveillance post on the Mediterranean tiny island of Leila, as part of the fight against terrorism and illegal immigration, particularly in the Gibraltar strait.

The source explained that the tiny island is uninhabited and that the only activity conducted there is the breeding of goat by Moroccans living in Jbel Moussa.

The official went on that the island was liberated in 1956 at the end of the Spanish protectorate over Morocco's northern area and since then Moroccan security forces were deployed there, whenever necessary.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco opens surveillance post on mediterranean tiny island   (7/13/2002)
  Moroccan fm cites moves by Morocco and Spain to end political lethargy   (7/10/2002)
  Morocco and Spain in permanent contact to overcome crisis, Spanish official   (7/9/2002)
  Moroccan NGO asks Basque government to inquire about fate of missing basque in polisario jails   (7/2/2002)

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