Spain sends in navy in spat with Morocco

Spain sent gunboats yesterday to protect disputed islands off the North African coast after Moroccan troops occupied a tiny island near the Strait of Gibraltar and Moroccan patrol boats were sighted near other islands.

Spain sent gunboats yesterday to protect disputed islands off the North African coast after Moroccan troops occupied a tiny island near the Strait of Gibraltar and Moroccan patrol boats were sighted near other islands.

A dozen Moroccan soldiers have set up camp on half-mile-long, uninhabited Perejil, near the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on the northern coast of Morocco, and claimed by both countries. The Spanish government called the incident "serious" and demanded the immediate removal of the troops. One Spanish newspaper said it was a "hostile act".

Morocco said it had sent the soldiers to the island it calls Leila to discourage drug smuggling and illegal immigration across the 12-mile strait. The move may be linked to negotiations on joint British-Spanish sovereignty over Gibraltar. Rabat could be using the island to remind Madrid it believes it has an equally good case for sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish enclaves on the Moroccan coast.

Diplomats also believe the timing may be connected to national celebrations in Morocco to mark the public wedding yesterday of King Mohammed (he married in a private ceremony in March). The Spanish Foreign Minister, Ana de Palacio, said the occupation was "very serious". By erecting two tents and raising two Moroccan flags, she said, Rabat had breached a 1991 friendship treaty.

Spain regards the island as part of its enclave of Ceuta. Morocco says it is in its territorial waters. There have been tensions between the two for months over the smuggling in the Strait.

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo yesterday called King Mohammed a "dictator" and insisted the Spanish government must not ignore "this hostile act", even if Perejil was not worth the fuel of a single patrol boat.

"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 newspaper said.