I talked to one of my friends from school who has been livingin Morocco for a while because his dad works for some nucular power plant (he is there right now) and when I asked him what he thought he emailed me this-

"I don't know whats up with these crazy Moroccans, they probably got hight, got lost and thought that they had landed on the island of Ibiza. That crazy Moroccan sh*# (refering to Hash) will do it to you. Bueno, I'm going to go get high (not that i condone these activities but he's my friend) and see if I cant follow in my fellow Moroccan peoples footsteps and find my way to Spain."

¡Victoria!

We have driven the foul and cowardly enemy from our shores! Perejil shall remain forever ours!

¡Toma cabrones!

As Asterault has telled in advance: At 6:15 this morning a task force comprised of naval forces, fighters (F-18) and a small group of special forces. They have taken 6 moroccian soldiers as prisoners and inmediately send them to Morocco.

Noone has been injured or killed, and the task force has planted the spanish flag in the island. The Government has informed their allies in NATO and EU, as well as the UN.

Morocco has qualified the action as a "declaration of war". Of course this is not going to end in an armed conflict (a war) because none of the countries wants it. They will protest, but with the amount of troops placed near their coasts they would be mad to do anything (Spain has at this moment 3 frigates, 2 to 4 submarines, 2 corvettes and a numbered amount of smaller ships, while Morocco has 1 frigate).

Even now, our government is still asking the government of Morocco to go back to the last status quo, having friendly relations.

I just hope this to settle, so both countries could have normal relations.

(But what the heck, that island was spanish territory)

Fernando

From what news I've seen, it seems that Spain's actions had the prior blessing of both the EU and NATO.

How much of this is really due to the portion of Morocco (northeast????) that is demanding independence - an independence that seems to have some solid support throughout the EU?

There must be things they don't tell us. The relations between Morocco and Spain beguin to go bad when Morocco decided not to let the Spanish ships to fish in their waters (they had a compensation for leting them to do it, of course).
Spain has always been in favour of a referendum in Western Sahara, and still does, although France and USA and of course Morocco prefer some kind of autonomy for the region, specially since some American companies will explote the oil found two years ago. I don't think the position of Spain in this subject would be so important, anyway I'm not an expert on international laws.
Anyway, I think those things shouldn't be enough to let the relations get worse and worse...that's why I think there must be more ..
I hope this finish OK, and we become friend nations again asap, and of course that this don't affect the relation between Spanish and Morocan people.
Puna I don't know if you refer to Western Sahara about the zone which wants independence, which actually is south west. Don't know anything about north east, although in Algeria there have been disturbs in the Cabilia region this year, which is a bereber region close to Morocco's north east.

¡Todo por la patria y arriba España! It's nice to see Generalísimo Aznar step out from behind his bad-porn-actor-moustache, sac up and do something. You've got to draw a line in the sand [literally] with these N. African superpowers and tell them "not in my backyard" when they try to overrun your population centers. May the goats of Perejil know only freedom from this day forth!

¡Para las cabras y contra los cabrones!

My opinion: The political situation is very very complex.

The Western Sahara (currently a moroccian territory west to Canarian Islands, in the south of Morocco) was a spanish colony until 1975. At that time Franco was dying, and Spain was under great political pressure (being a dictatorship) by the UN and international powers to abandon the Spanish Sahara (that was the name at those times) and give it the independence.

The dictator and king Hassan II of Morocco was claiming (also with Mauritania, at the south of the Spanish Sahara) the control of the spanish colony. The spanish government was expecting a military attack, but the moroccian dictator did a smart, but horrible move: He sent 250,000 civilians (children, elders, women,...) to the Spanish Sahara. The spanish forces did not shot. And in some days we gave the control of the Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania (which abandoned it some time after what was called "the Green March").

The tiny population of the Spanish Sahara was abandoned by our pitty government (they were spanish citizens with all of the rights) and then the dictator forced them to the exile to the south of Algeria, and repopulated the Western Sahara with moroccians.

Since the fall of the Franco's regime, our now democratic governments have historicly supported a solution to the Western Sahara conflict: the referendum supported by the UN, in which only Sahara's natives could vote in. Morocco has always delayed or deny the referendum, with the support of France (which, with the loose of Algeria as a colony, lost all the influence in the zone, and would want Morocco to be an allied country).

Morocco is now a key international country. It is an arab moslem country, but in which the integrism is controled. The US considers it as a friendly country which could support its fight against terrorism. Some weeks ago the USA changed its historical position for the Sahara's referendum against it (one more reason is that Morocco is going to give exclusivity of oil and phosphate mines in the Sahara to US and french companies), leaving Spain, the UN and Rusia as the only powers supporting the referendum.

As you see it is a complex problem. But there is more. Spain had historical fishing zones in the coasts of Morocco, but they decided to kick our ships (which are now being dismanteled) for environmental reasons (weeks after our ships leaved other countries' ships arrived). The true reason was that Spain denied the moroccian tomato exportations to the EU to be sold in equal conditions in Europe (cause that would go against our own tomato production).

Then the moroccian government decided to grow the tension by retiring their ambassador in Madrid without any reason (it seems the reason was the support for the referendum in the Western Sahara).

Days ago they invaded the Perejil Island (which lacks any strategic or economic value). The reasons are stated above: the Sahara's issue, the other commercial conflicts,... They first excused the invasion telling that they wanted to have a control post for the illegal inmigration and the terrorism in Gibraltar (12 soldiers alone in a piece of rock without any material?). Yesterday one of their ministers said that it was only a soberignity issue (both countries had an agreement for wich none of them would place military personel in the island). The reasons for the invasion are that they have an historic claim for spanish territories in the north of Africa: Canarian Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, Alhucemas Island, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, Chafarinas Islands and the Perejil Island. The wedding of the king was also these last days (the invasion could be a way to increase nationalism). Also, Morocco is now having serious internal trouble.

Today Spain has taken control of the island, putting a break to a conflict that could scalate more, and to the moroccian policy in the last years.

Fortunately there has been no injured or killed in the assault in both sides.

Now the story continues... we will see what Morocco does now.

Hope this information is useful to understand this conflict.

Fernando

The story continues... the moroccian king has sayed today:

"This is a flagrant agression"

"Spain wants to transform a political conflict in a military one"

It seems they think that their invasion was a scholar summer camp...

"Spain wants to impose the things as a fact"

Exactly the spanish response to the prior ocupation. But the spanish government sayed that they wanted the things to return to the status prior to the moroccian occupation.

"It is contrary to the international laws"

Also a sentence pronounced by a spanish minister days ago. Breaking an agreement is for international laws? Invading a disputed territory?

What a king...

Fernando

Thank God they stopped the Moors before they retook Granada and set up again in the Alhambra! That was probably their plan all along. That way, they wouldn't have to hope for tourist passes weeks in advance just to get in to "their" original palace!

¡Hombres! ¡España te necesita! Aux armes citoyens!

I think Morocco is conducting their typical idiot 3rd world diplomacy. No takers here. If they want the island they can buy it, until then too bad!

Perejil Español o pa' nadie!