July 25, 2002	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 14,1423

RABAT: Despite an agreement to end a 10-day feud over a small rocky Mediterranean island, analysts say the territorial conflict between Morocco and Spain remains unresolved.

Under an accord, announced in the Moroccan capital this week, the two countries agreed “to restore and maintain the situation regarding the island of Perejil/Toura that existed prior to July,” thereby casting aside sensitive sovereignty issues that has resulted in poisoning relations between the two countries.

Analysts say that apart from the island, Spain and Morocco have been at loggerheads over Ceuta and Mellilia, two Moroccan enclaves still controlled by Spain, and the neighbouring Jaafarine Islands.

They describe as “cold,” the agreement which was announced by Moroccan foreign affairs minister, Mohamed Benaissa, and his Spanish counterpart Ana Palacio, at the end of a short round of talks.

They say that the agreement, brokered by US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, did not settle the issue of sovereignty over the island, and focused on returning to the previous status quo with no military presence on the island.

The crisis started on July 11 when Morocco sent six of its soldiers to the 30-acre rock, just 150 metres off its northern coast. The men were soon ousted by Spain, which feared Morocco would use the rock as a basis for future claims over Ceuta and Mellilia.

Rabat said it sent the servicemen to the island “to better check on illegal migration and drug trafficking.” The movement of stowaways and hashish is very active in the 12-km strait of Gibraltar separating Europe and Africa.

Since the beginning of the feud Moroccan political parties, including those represented in government, have pressed the regime to take a hardline position against Spain and bring all controversial issues to the table, including that of Ceuta and Mellilia.

However, Spain has ruled out any talks with Morocco over the future of the two enclaves it has been occupying since the 15th century.

Moroccan-Spanish relations, governed by a 1991 Neighbourliness and Cooperation Treaty, have worsened over the past months over illegal immigration, fishing rights and the dispute over the Western Sahara.

Political analysts, like Mohamed Moaid, blame the Moroccan government for accepting the return to the status quo.

Other analysts believe that Morocco used the issue of Perejil as a “repetition” of what may happen in the Western Sahara, a small portion of desert that the North African monarchy annexed in 1975.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote later this month on a US plan that would give the Western Sahara substantial autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.

The plan is opposed by the Polisario, which fights for the independence of the territory.

The Polisario repeatedly threatened to resume hostilities against Morocco if the UN fails to endorse self-determination as the only solution.—Dawn/The InterPress News Service.