Spain today grabbed back the tiny uninhabited Mediterranean isle no bigger than a soccer pitch that is at the centre of a bitter dispute with Morocco.

MOROCCO claimed yesterday that a tiny Mediterranean island at the centre of a growing dispute with Spain is an "integral part" of the North African nation, but that it wanted to use diplomatic means to resolve differences.

Spain has sent three war vessels to protect its possessions in North Africa as Morocco continued a military occupation of an uninhabited Spanish islet for a third day.