Al-Ahram Weekly | Region

		18 - 24 July 2002 Issue No. 595 Region	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Diplomatic solution fails
MOROCCO demanded on Wednesday the immediate withdrawal of Spanish forces from a disputed Mediterranean island, saying the tiny island was an "integral part" of Moroccan territory.
Earlier Wednesday, Spanish forces stormed the disputed tiny island known to Moroccans as 'Leila' and to Spaniards as 'Perejil', ousting Moroccan troops camped there since last week. Spain had recalled its ambassador to Morocco, Fernando Arias-Salgado, on Tuesday night for consultations on the crisis.
However, the Moroccan government warned it would "not fail to act" in response to the operation. "The Moroccan government urges the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Spanish forces," said a statement issued by the official news agency MAP.
It said it was protesting to the UN Security Council over Spain's "aggression" and had also raised the issue with the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
The Spanish moves came as a surprise given that both countries' officials have repeatedly said that they want a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Spain took action after consulting with the UN Security Council and its allies, according to a statement issued by the office of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
The crisis between the two countries developed last week after Morocco deployed a dozen soldiers on the island.
The rock, not much bigger than a football pitch, is situated 200 metres inside Moroccan waters, some 10 kilometres from the Spanish island enclave of Ceuta.
Morocco has said it aims to set up a surveillance post to fight terrorism and the trafficking of illegal immigrant in the area.
The European Union has rallied behind Madrid's operation. "There will be no cries of victory but there is unlikely to be any criticism either," a Commission official was quoted as saying.
In Cairo, Amr Moussa, the Arab League's secretary- general, stated that the 22-nation bloc he represents has supported Morocco's claim but that talks between the two countries should continue.

Mandela's call dismissed?
THE UNITED States dismissed on Monday an apparent offer from Egypt and Tunisia to allow Abdel-Basset Al- Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, to serve his sentence in one of those countries rather than Scotland.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington had not been consulted on the offer, relayed Sunday to victims of the attack on PanAm flight 103 by former South African President Nelson Mandela, and saw no reason to pursue it.
"Libya agreed to hand over the suspects for trial by a Scottish court, with a specific understanding that following a conviction, any sentence would be carried out within the Scottish penal system," Boucher told reporters.
Mandela said on Sunday in London he had told relatives of victims of the bombing that Egypt and Tunisia were prepared to let convicted Lockerbie bomber Al-Megrahi be transferred to one of their prisons.
He said he had already discussed the idea with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Tunisian President Zine Al- Abidine Bin Ali who "both agreed that, if he is transferred, they would accept him."
Mandela played a key role in persuading his close friend Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to hand over Megrahi and another Libyan suspect, Lamine Khalifa, for trial at a special Scottish court sitting in Camp Zeist, the Netherlands.
During his visit to the Scottish prison on 10 June, Mandela called for Al-Megrahi to be given a new appeal and for him to be transferred to a Muslim country where it would be easier for him to complete his sentence. But Prime Minister Tony Blair rejected that proposal.

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