Spain and Morocco agree to differ over Perejil

Morocco and Spain's foreign ministers agreed yesterday to a "frank and sincere dialogue" and plan to meet again in September to discuss their countries' differences, including competing claims to the tiny island of Perejil.

Two days after Spain withdrew its forces from the uninhabited Mediterranean island, the countries agreed that the situation there will remain as it was before the conflict started, according to a joint statement released after talks between Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa and his counterpart, Ana Palacio.

The agreement does not jeopardise the countries' respective claims to the island, the statement said. The talks were made possible by the US­coordinated withdrawal of Spanish Legionnaires from the island, 200 metres from the Moroccan border

US Secretary of State Colin Powell was credited with unblocking the countries' standoff by setting out an "understanding" in a July 20 letter. The statement said the two countries confirmed Powell's agreement.

"The two countries will apply this agreement in good faith," the statement said, referring to Powell's letter. Details of the letter were not available.

Before the talks, Moroccan newspapers, such as the official Le Matin, suggested that larger questions would also come up for discussion – such as the status of Spain's two enclaves on the Moroccan coast, Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a sprinkling of other islands that run east from Ceuta to the Algerian border. That appeared to be borne out by the plan to hold future talks. Officials, however, did not mention the enclaves.

The ministers' encounter was the highest­level meeting between the two sparring neighbors to take place since Morocco abruptly recalled its ambassador from Madrid last October.

The talks followed a round of telephone diplomacy by Powell involving Moroccan King Mohamed VI, Benaissa and Palacio.

Powell was quoted as saying last week that the two good friends of the United States had to be helped to resolve their differences.

The Sultan of Morocco was the first international leader to recognise the independence of the fledgling United States, and in a letter of thanks, President George Washington said that although the new republic was poor and without many resources, it hoped to grow and develop to the point where it could also be of assistance to Morocco.

Opposition newspapers in Morocco have openly questioned the reasons for Morocco's initial action, which officials called a routine periodic check on the smuggling of drugs and clandestine immigrants from Morocco to Spain across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar.