Spanish island assault an act of war, says Morocco

Outraged Morocco has dubbed a surprise military assault by helicopter-borne Spanish troops who recaptured a disputed Mediterranean island an act of war.

Tensions have escalated in the week since Morocco established an outpost on the outcrop known in Spanish as Isla Perejil - Parsley Island - and in Arabic as Leila - Night.

Relations between the two countries, which face each other across the Strait of Gibraltar, have soured since Morocco recalled its ambassador to Madrid last autumn.

Morocco’s foreign minister Mohammed Benaissa said the Spanish landing was an ‘‘invasion, in contradiction with international legality’’.

‘‘It is an ignoble act which amounts to an act of war,’’ Benaissa told a news conference.

The countries have bickered over illegal immigration and fishing rights, as well as Madrid’s insistence that a United Nations-sponsored referendum should be held on the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in the 1970s.

Madrid-based political analyst Charles Powell said the response of the government of Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar was comparable to Margaret Thatcher’s attitude toward Argentina’s 1982 attempt to take the Falkland Islands by force, which led to the Falklands War. However, the island in the Mediterranean is unoccupied - unlike the Falklands.

Although Powell said it was inconceivable that Spain and Morocco would go to war, he said Aznar was sending a message: ‘‘You don’t treat a major European power like this and think you can get away with it.’’

On July 11, a 12-member Moroccan police unit landed on the island, set up tents and raised their flag. They were later replaced by Moroccan soldiers.

Spain responded by deploying five warships and initially saying it wanted to resolve the dispute through negotiations.

But early yesterday, defence minister Federico Trillo ordered the eviction of the Moroccans.

‘‘Spain had been attacked by the force in a sensitive point of its geography,’’ he told an emergency session of the parliamentary foreign and defence committees.

Just before dawn, five Spanish military helicopters flew towards the island. From the air, the Moroccans were ordered to put down their weapons and surrender. Three choppers with 28 Spanish troops landed, took the Moroccans into custody and set up a base on the island, Trillo said.

The Moroccans were taken to Ceuta, one of two Spanish enclaves on the Moroccan coast.

The Spanish move was protested around Morocco.

On Jebel Leila, a bluff on the Moroccan shore just 200 meters (yards) from the island, hundreds of Moroccans hurled rocks in vain at Spanish patrol boats, shouting ‘‘Enough of Spanish colonialism!’’

‘‘This is not just a rock, it’s a part of our country,’’ said Fatima, a 56-year-old woman who refused to give her last name.

‘‘The land belongs to Morocco. It’s not Spanish,’’ said Rashid Harsal, a 22-year-old protester outside the Spanish consulate in the coastal city of Tetuan.

On the island, a dozen Spanish soldiers were building what appeared to be a small stone wall along the shore. Two soldiers patrolled the island as a helicopter hovered overhead and five warships circled nearby.

In Madrid, foreign minister Ana Palacio was conciliatory, saying ‘‘Spain has no interest in maintaining a permanent military presence’’ and that the government was open to talks with Morocco.

But Morocco protested what its foreign minister called an ‘‘invasion, in contradiction with international law’’ and asked the international community to pressure Spain to withdraw.

Moroccan foreign minister Mohammed Benaissa told reporters the Spanish landing was ‘‘an ignoble act which amounts to an act of war’’.

The island, measuring 0.5 square miles or a little less than half the size of New York’s Central Park, has a large cave that was reportedly used as a staging point for boats ferrying illegal immigrants.

In ancient times, it is thought to have been one of the mythological Pillars of Hercules, along with the Rock of Gibraltar across the strait. Historians have connected the island with Ogigia, mentioned in Homer’s The Odyssey.

Spain says it has controlled the island since 1668, even though it abandoned a permanent presence four decades ago. The slab of rock lies about three miles from the Ceuta enclave.

Morocco also claims title to the island and said it set up the ‘‘observation post’’ to combat smuggling of drugs and illegal immigrants.

Spain recently accused Morocco of not cracking down on criminal gangs that smuggled African illegal immigrants while clashing with the Moroccan kingdom over fishing rights.

In Cairo, Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, said the 22-nation bloc considered that ‘‘Leila Island is Moroccan’’ but called for the issue to be resolved through negotiations.

The European Union has backed Spain, but offered to act as a go-between for dialogue between the countries. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also offered to mediate.

Nato officials said the alliance was pleased the status quo had been restored and that there had been no injuries.