Spain had accepted concrete efforts before invading Moroccan islet
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 7/19/2002

Morocco said on Wednesday Spanish authorities had accepted on Tuesday night a Moroccan concrete offer, put forward via the US mediation, before rescinding its commitment and sending Spanish troops Wednesday at dawn to occupy the Moroccan Mediterranean islet of Leila.

In a press conference, Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, and secretary of state for foreign affairs and cooperation, Taib Fassi Fihri, said Spain had accepted, in phone talks, Moroccan offer to withdraw its six security agents deployed in the islet on the condition that Spain never sets foot again on the Islet soil. Few minutes later, Spain rescinded its commitment and invaded the islet.

Fassi Fihri told reporters that during the negotiations held on the phone Spanish foreign minister, Ana de Palacio was somewhat nervous and was asking for Moroccan immediate withdrawal at a late hour of the night. For Morocco, he went on, an agreement was reached. But few minutes later, morocco was information that a Spanish armada was invading the islet.

The officials emphasized that dialogue is impossible as long as Spanish forces, together with the symbols they deployed, remain on the tiny island, and voiced optimism that "wisdom and the spirit of dialogue" will prevail and that the episode will be settled so that Morocco and Spain can contribute to establishing security in the region rather than undermining it.

To a question on the contingency of an armed conflict, the secretary of state answered that Morocco remains attached to legal means of international legality and favors dialogue and tolerance, two values for which Morocco has always been renowned, as is evidenced by the series of peace conferences hosted by the Kingdom.

They further recalled that the operation conducted last week by a light unit comprising no more than 12 agents was aimed at contributing to the fight against unlawful trafficking going on in the region and does not have any relation with the old Moroccan-Spanish dispute over the two Spanish occupied cities of Sebta and Melilia and even less with the evolution in the Gibraltar rock issue.

The two Moroccan officials also denied remarks by Spain's ambassador in Rabat-- who was called back for consultation-- that Morocco meant to dismantle the whole Spanish presence in North Africa. They were also astonished and shocked at Spanish claims that Morocco operated a change in the nature of the Moroccan presence and arguments put forward by the Spanish government to justify its operation in the rock.

The secretary of state revealed that Spain has also deployed troops on two other rocks in the Bay of Al Hoceima, off Ajdir, two rocks that are also part of the Moroccan-Spanish dispute and added "we are extremely shocked by Spain's attitude, behavior and method that are reminiscent of a past we thought over for ever."

The two officials further welcomed the statement by the European Commission's chairman who expressed the union's attachment to its privileged relations with Morocco and called for a return to the status-quo ante.

Morocco was supported by the Arab league, the Organization of Islamic Conference and several Arab, African and European heads of state in this crisis with Spain.

To a question on a negative remark by a member of the Algerian government, Benaissa said this stance was inappropriate. Algerian minister of Maghreban and African affairs, Abdelkader Messahel, said Tuesday "Algeria refuses any fait accompli policy and any violation of international legality" and drew a comparison between the Mediterranean Leila islet and the Sahara issue, which he both considered as situations of borders inherited at independence.

Benaissa also said he held a lengthy phone conversation with the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, who offered his mediation in the Moroccan-Spanish crisis.

Previous Stories:
  History confirms Leila islet is Moroccan territory, testimonies   (7/18/2002)
  Spain's Llamazares: invasion of Leila islet smacks of colonialism   (7/18/2002)
  The Guardian: impossible not to side with the Moroccans over Leila islet   (7/18/2002)

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