Parsley Warriors Vow to Fight on

Spain and Morocco dug themselves deeper into conflict yesterday, renouncing weekend promises to ease themselves away from confrontation over possession of the islet of Perejil

Speaking a day after Spain sent a fourth warship to protect its two north African enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, the Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, said it would never accept that the presence of Moroccan troops on the islet in the Strait of Gibraltar was a "fait accompli".

"It is essential to return to the status quo before the occupation of the island," he told parliament in the annual state of the nation speech.

But the Moroccan foreign minister, Mohamed Benaissa, making his country's first official comment since landing a dozen troops on tthe islet on Thursday, said Morocco would not "for the time being" withdraw its "observation post".

He cited historical documents dating from 1860 to support his country's claim to the island, whose Spanish name means Parsley, but which Morocco calls Leila.

He accused Spain of blowing the whole affair up out of proportion, and said the troops were there to tackle illegal immigration, drug trafficking and terrorism in the strait.

"There is, therefore, no other reading to make of a simple surveillance operation in a sensitive area where common interest calls for increased vigilance, in particular in the current circumstances."

But he was careful to say that the islet, 200 metres off the coast, was not part of the "territorial dispute" between Spain and Morocco over the city enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.

Spanish rule over the two enclaves was "undisputed and indisputable," the Spanish foreign minister, Ana Palacio repeated yesterday.

Nato followed the EU's lead and backed Spain yesterday. "We regard this as an unfriendly action undertaken by Morocco, which has clearly disturbed the status quo, and is contrary to the treaty of friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation ... signed by Spain and Morocco in 1991," a spokesman said.

The European commission warned Morocco that relations with the EU, its main trading partner, were in jeopardy.