Sebta and Melillia must be retroceded to Morocco without haggling, Spanish former diplomat
The Spanish government must open "without haggling" dialogue with Morocco on the future of the two cities it is occupying, Sebta and Melillia, to reach acceptable solutions for both countries, said Maximo Cajal, a Spanish retired diplomat, currently international policy adviser at the Socialist Labor Party (PSOE).
Spain should "restart joint reflection with Rabat on this sensitive question," Cajal said, adding that such an effort should lead to acceptable solutions for the two countries provided that Spain does not haggle over the definitive Moroccan identity of Sebta and Melillia.
He also termed the Leila Islet incident, which opposed Morocco to Spain in summer 2002, as "the Spanish example of colonialism and arrogance," deeming that Spain has not managed to negotiate the question in the adequate framework.
The former diplomat, who expressed this position in a book titled "Sebta, Melillia, Olivenza and Gibraltar: Where does Spain end" presented by the Sunday issue of El Pais, writes that it is high time an unfair colonial situation was repaired. He described the issue as an offense to Morocco and a source of concern and bad conscience for Spain which gets nervous each time it is raised.
For Cajal, the situation of the two occupied cities must be addressed even before that of Gibraltar in the respect for the African neighbor's territorial integrity and to the interest of Spaniards to avoid prejudices of fear, suspicion and historical grudge against "moros."
A clear solution to the issue of Sebta and Melillia will give the Spanish government a "moral authority" that entitles it to claim from the UK the retrocession of Gibraltar.
The diplomat said he had the occasion to submit his views to Spanish authorities when he was secretary general of foreign policy at the time of Francisco Fernandez Ordoniez, then foreign minister of the Socialist government of Felipe Gonzalez.
Maximo Cajal said the socialist' program for the 2004 polls do not reflect his views on the issue, but rather deal with Maghreb relations through a "global vision."
