Spain offers conditional withdrawal

Spain’s Foreign Minister today offered to withdraw troops from a disputed Mediterranean island recaptured from Morocco, but only if Morocco promises not to reoccupy it.

Spanish soldiers in helicopters landed on Perejil island early yesterday after several Moroccans put up tents and raised flags on the tiny outcrop a week ago.

Morocco said the Spanish action was tantamount to ‘‘an act of war’’.

But Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said ‘‘Spain has no desire to stay in Perejil. It desires to return to the status quo ante, but for that it requires a serious status quo, with guarantees.

‘‘That is to say, if we leave, the Moroccans do not enter and we return to the situation we had before,’’ she said.

Palacio said outside mediation was not needed to end the dispute.

She said Spain would be satisfied with a commitment from Moroccan King Mohammed VI - and a more general political will in Rabat to bring an end to the crisis.

Once a withdrawal was agreed, Palacio said, Spanish and Moroccan police could carry out joint operations against drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

Palacio said Spain was willing to negotiate ‘‘about anything’’ except Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish ‘‘autonomous cities’’ on the North African coast.

Morocco has in the past indicated that it wants to negotiate about transferring the cities to its rule.

Neither side fired a shot in the dispute over Perejil Island.

Spanish soldiers briefly arrested the Moroccan troops during yesterday’s surprise assault, and replaced the Moroccan flag with their own.

Tensions have escalated in the week since Morocco established an outpost on the tiny island 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 year.

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

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

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

On July 11, a dozen Moroccan police landed on the island, and were soon replaced by Moroccan soldiers.

Spain responded by deploying five warships, and early yesterday evicted the Moroccans.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohammed Benaissa described the Spanish landing as ‘‘an ignoble act which amounts to an act of war.’’