Morocco claims island is an integral part of North African nation

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.

The island, known as Perejil to Spaniards and Leila to Moroccans, “has always been an integral part of Moroccan territory,” said Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa.

He spoke as a handful of Moroccan soldiers remained on the island, a tiny, barren outcrop located just off the Moroccan shore but theoretically in Spanish hands for the past three centuries.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said that he was making every diplomatic effort to end its crisis with Morocco but warned that it would not accept its southern neighbour’s occupation of the island.

“History is full of acts” showing that the island belongs to Morocco, said Benaissa, adding that “Morocco is for a serene and calm dialogue to avoid the militarisation of the region.” Twelve Moroccan troops landed on the island on Thursday and raised national flags.

Spain responded by deploying war vessels. By yesterday, only three of the soldiers remained on the rugged rock, little bigger than a football pitch.

Spain, backed fully by the European Union, has sent several warships to protect its city enclaves in Morocco and a handful of other islands it possesses but stresses that it, too, wishes to resolve the matter by diplomatic means.

Speaking in Melilla, one of the city enclaves, Interior Ministry official Pedro Morenes said Spain “was not ruling out any legitimate measure it feels necessary,” if Morocco continues to stay on the islet.

In Rabat, the Moroccan capital, Benaissa said the soldiers were sent to the island for a “simple surveillance operation in a sensitive zone” and that it would continue “for the time being.”

Morocco has said it aims to set up a surveillance post to fight terrorism and illegal immigrant trafficking in the area. The foreign minister said that Morocco would put forth both legal and historic arguments to the EU on the Moroccan claim to the island.

He said the island was returned to Morocco in 1956, at the end of the Spanish protectorate in northern Morocco, and that Moroccan troops had a “presence” there until 1970.

For Spain, the island, which is a half-mile in diameter, has belonged to Madrid since 1668. There has been no Spanish presence on the island for the last 40 years.

Spain’s relations with Morocco have plummeted in recent years. Morocco recalled its ambassador in October without any explanation.

The countries have had disagreements over fishing, illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Morocco has also been irked by Spain’s backing for a much-delayed UN-backed independence referendum for the people of Western Sahara, a territory annexed by Morocco when colonial Spain pulled out in 1976.