HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Moroccans seize Parsley Island and leave a
bitter taste in Spanish mouths
Giles Tremlett in
Madrid
Saturday July 13, 2002 The Guardian It will go down in history as the
first military invasion of western European soil since the second world war. In
a secret operation carried out by sea, Moroccan soldiers took the Spanish-owned
Isla del Perejil late on Thursday, hoisted their country's red and green flag
from its highest point, set up camp and waited for the Spaniards to try to take
the land back.
Yesterday the Moroccan troops waited, arms at the ready, scanning the
Atlantic horizon and the nearby Strait of Gibraltar for Spanish warships. They
had successfully invaded a patch of land that, formally, belongs to an area
protected by Nato. What would happen next?
The invasion of Perejil, literally "the parsley island", yesterday created an
international incident that reverberated through Europe and North Africa, but
its farcical nature meant it was unlikely to spark anything more than a war of
words.
The invasion force consisted of a dozen poorly armed Moroccan frontier
guards, equipped with a radio, two flags and a couple of tents.
The island they invaded, which lies 200 metres off the coast of northern
Morocco, is populated solely by lizards, bugs and sprigs of wild parsley. No one
has used it for anything other than sunbathing and snorkelling since the 1960s.
Even the Spanish government, which maintains that its last occupants 40 years
ago were Spanish legionnaires, concedes that the islet has no strategic value.
Nobody knows for sure how the invasion force got there, but a couple of
rowing boats would have sufficed to get on to this barren rock, whose
circumference measures less than half a mile and which covers an area barely
bigger than a football pitch.
The Moroccans, however, claim they mean business. The farce over an island
they have renamed Leila is not without real threats and danger.
When officers from Spain's civil guard police force arrived on a small patrol
boat from the nearby Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta three miles away and
to which the islet nominally belongs, they were reportedly persuaded to get back
on their boat at gunpoint.
The invasion was greeted with amazement by Moroccans, who were yesterday
readying themselves for three days of celebrations to mark King Mohammed VI's
recent marriage. Most had not even realised that the island, so close to the
popular beaches north of Tangiers, was meant to be Spanish.
Opposition politicians in the Moroccan capital Rabat backed the official
government explanation that this has been Moroccan territory since Spain lost
its North African protectorate in 1956.
Spanish radio stations, however, were overwhelmed with calls from people
demanding that the Moroccan invaders be driven back into the sea. An internet
poll by El Mundo newspaper showed that one in five voters wanted the Isla del
Perejil stormed by crack Spanish troops.
El Mundo also called Mohammed VI a "dictator" and raged: "The King of Morocco
has chosen the path of confrontation with one of the great European democracies
and this should have a serious cost for him."
The invasion, which appeared deliberately timed to coincide with the wedding
celebrations, provoked jitters in the Spanish government and the EU.
Spain's defence ministry sent three patrol boats armed with small cannon to
the area. These were yesterday stationed about a mile from the islet, which was
being "protected" by two small, brightly painted Moroccan fishing boats.
The government of prime minister Jose Maria Aznar warned of other Moroccan
naval movements around a number of Spanish-owned rocky outcrops and islands off
the North African coast and said it had sent reinforcements to some isolated
military outposts there.
"A Moroccan patrol boat was seen carrying out manoeuvres close to one of the
Chafarinas islands and as a result the government has decided to strengthen the
military which is permanently based in the territories," the deputy prime
minister, Mariano Rajoy, said after a cabinet meeting in Madrid.
Foreign ministry officials, undoubtedly aware of an earlier precedent set by
the appearance of Argentinian flags on South Georgia before the Falklands war,
described the incident as "grave" but pledged "serenity" in their response.
"It is a serious situation that we will go to work on rather than just
talking about it," the foreign minister, Ana Palacio, said on only her second
day in the job. "Spain must ask for a return to the status quo and that is what
we are doing."
The Moroccan government, with its mind on the royal wedding, did not comment
but senior foreign ministry officials said it had no intention of removing its
men from the Isla del Perejil.
"The island is within Moroccan territorial waters," one official said.
Officials claimed Morocco had simply set up an "observation post" on the
islet to help it prevent terrorist attacks and illegal migration into Europe
across the Strait of Gibraltar, which divide Spain from Africa and the
Mediterranean from the Atlantic.
It seemed unlikely that the invasion could have taken place without the
personal approval of King Mohammed, considered an important ally of the west.
EU officials condemned the invasion. "This is clearly a regrettable incident.
It constitutes a violation of Spanish territory," the European commission
spokesman, Gunar Wiegand, told a news briefing. "This has nothing to do with
fighting illegal immigration."
Nato, however, said it was a purely bilateral problem between Spain and
Morocco.
The invasion marks one of the lowest points in relations between the two
countries since the present king's father, Hassan II, engineered a peaceful
invasion of the former Spanish colony of the Western Sahara by tens of thousands
of unarmed Moroccans on the so-called Green March nearly 30 years ago.
Rows over Spanish support for the Polisario Front independence movement in
the western Sahara and over fishing, farming, immigration and drug smuggling had
already strained relations to snapping point. Last October King Mohammed
withdrew Morocco's ambassador to Madrid.
This month Moroccan officials summoned the Spanish ambassador in Rabat to
explain the unexpected deployment of five warships near some Spanish rocks just
600 metres off the Mediterranean port of Al Hoceima. Spain said they were "on
exercises".
As a result of the increasingly difficult relations between both countries,
the Spanish royal family and members of the government had already declined to
attend the wedding celebrations of King Mohammed.
Mr Rajoy said yesterday that the occupation of Perejil was "incomprehensible"
and "an act of hostility". He warned Morocco not to forget that it was the
biggest recipient of foreign aid from Spain, which was also its second biggest
trading partner. He also pointed out, rather menacingly, that there were 200,000
Moroccans living in Spain and that this summer 1.5 million Moroccans would cross
the country to make the yearly trek home for holidays from Europe. "Where does
the Moroccan government want to go with its relations with Spain?" he asked.
Spain retains two enclaves on North African soil, a throwback to the days
when it ruled much of the Mediterranean coastline of what is now Morocco. It
resists, however, any comparison between its retention of the two enclaves,
Ceuta and Melilla, and Britain's sovereignty over Gibraltar. It says neither
enclave was populated by the Moors and that both are, by right of conquest,
occupation or treaty, fully Spanish.
Morocco, in turn, claims sovereignty not just over Perejil but also over
Ceuta and Melilla and, with less vigour, over the Canary Islands. It has been
keeping a close eye on negotiations for sovereignty sharing between Spain and
Britain over the Rock.
Spain yesterday admitted that although it had held control over Perejil for
several hundred years, the rock had not been legally documented as Spanish in
recent decades. "There is a certain vagueness in this aspect," said a foreign
ministry spokesman.
King who promised so much but gave so little
While his soldiers were invading a tiny Spanish island yesterday, King
Mohammed VI of Morocco was starting lavish celebrations to mark his recent
marriage.
The 39-year-old king, who took over on the death of his father King Hassan II
three years ago, has had the capital city, Rabat, adorned with flowers for the
three days of feasting and dancing. The celebrations had been postponed from
April because of tensions in the Middle East.
About 1,500 people were on the official guest list, including the former US
president Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, who arrived for an evening
ceremony at the royal palace. A procession of Moroccans also marched there
bearing "symbols of a happy life and purity" for the bride, Salma Bennani, a
computer engineer.
Other festivities include street parties in Rabat and public weddings across
the kingdom.
A small town of luxurious tents has been set up along the River Bouregreg,
where 300 couples will marry in honour of the king's marriage. Yesterday he
pardoned 8,400 common prisoners and reduced the sentences of 42,200 others.
The king, previously known mainly for his love of jet-skiing, may have been
busy with his wedding plans but the decision to invade the Isla de Perejil would
not have been made without his consent.
Despite having a democratically elected parliament, Morocco is still
effectively run by the king and royal advisers based at his main palace in
Rabat. The prime minister, currently the socialist veteran Abderrahmane
Youssoufi, and key ministers are directly appointed by the king, who is
considered a direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed.
Mohammed VI's arrival on the throne was greeted with enthusiasm by his
people. He promised to modernise, sweeping away the ruthless, semi-feudal system
of his father's day.
He was dubbed "the king of the poor" and was known as M6. When he disposed of
the harem built up by his father and allowed the press to photograph his future
wife, many thought it a true revolution.
But the promises of change have not been fulfilled. Journalists are still
harassed. Human rights campaigners complain that his father's strongmen are
still in power. Promised changes to the moudwana, the cruel law governing
women's rights, have not been made.
The king, considered an ally by the west, is said to have been so badly
treated by his own father that he has little interest in ruling. Critics claim
he is overtaken by fits of rage that provoke strange policy decisions, including
the decision to retire the ambassador from Madrid.
"By allowing the hope he inspired to evaporate, the king risks losing his
throne," Jean-Pierre Tuquoi, a Le Monde journalist, warned in a recent
biography.
--------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ |