The Moroccan ambassador to Spain has been recalled after Madrid announced that King Juan Carlos will visit the two North African enclaves, Sebta and Mellilia, the Spanish have been hanging on to despite the undeniable fact that they are Moroccan territory.
The Moroccan ambassador to Spain has been recalled after Madrid announced that King Juan Carlos will visit Sebta and Mellilia
The king is scheduled to visit the cities the Spanish call Ceuta and Melilla on the Mediterranean coast next Monday and Tuesday, accompanied by Queen Sofia.
MAP, the Moroccan state news agency, on Monday said: "It has been decided on the high instruction of his majesty King Mohammed VI ... the recall for consultation of Mr Omar Azziman, his Majesty's ambassador in Spain for an indeterminate period."
Morocco's ambassador in Madrid, Omar AzzimanHigh-level Spanish trips to Sebta and Mellilia are rare and a visit by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the prime minister, in 2006, raised hackles in Morocco.
The last royal visit was 80 years ago.
Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, Spain's deputy prime minister, said next week's royal visit was in response to requests by residents.
De la Vega added: "Relations with the kingdom of Morocco are extraordinarily good ... based on sincere affection and mutual respect."
However, Abbas el Fassi, the Moroccan prime minister, expressed surprise and "profound regret" at the royal visit, a sentiment echoed by most Moroccans.
"The government ... recalls that these two towns are an integral part of the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco and their return to the mother nation will come from direct negotiations between the Spanish neighbour", el Fassi's office said.
Spanish-Moroccan relations had hit a low point in 2002 when Morocco sent troops to the tiny disputed island of Perejil and Spain under Jose Maria Aznar, the former Spanish prime minister, sent special forces to oust them.
Tensions between the countries have since eased as Zapatero came to power and aligned his foreign policy closer to that of Moroccan ally France.
El Fassi and his conservative Istiqlal [Independence] party came to power in September 2007 with a popular agenda which includes the claims to the cities of Sebta and Mellilia, and Spain's former colony of Western Sahara, as part of Morocco's "territorial integrity".
Spain took Melilla at the end of the 15th century and took over Sebta from Portugal in the 17th century. It is about time they dropped their colonisation - it is more than a tad unfashionable.
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
8 comments:
I can see why Moroccans want Ceuta and Melilla. I don't know enough about the dispute to have an opinion on who should own them, but Morocco seems to have legitimate grievances.
That said, before Moroccans complain about colonialism they might want to investigate the colonialism their own government is perpetrating in Western Sahara. The UN doesn't call it Africa's last colony for nothing.
And just what did the International Court of Justice say about Ceuta and Melilla?
The only argument from Morocco si the geographical argument. Exactly like the Western Sahara, these territory never was a moroccan territory and the population don't want to become moroccan.
well apparently the writers of riadzany are very selective with the posting of reactions. Only the emails from people who consider the western sahare non moroccan have been posted. My post about the fact that the western sahare being moroccan has not been posted. well done riadzany! you also know what censure is about!
maria
Salam Maria,
I suggest you actually read the comments! You will see that we do not censor anyone and as with our stories - every point of view is welcome. What we do strive for is to reflect the views of our Moroccan friends on the ground in Morocco.
With over 1000 visitors a day we will always have those who have a different point of view and we welcome them.
Thanks Oscar, you just got in ahead of me!
Hi Maria, your comments ( as Oscar pointed out) are very welcome. You are also welcome to right articles and offer them for us to post. We have so many stories to cover and so few people to do it that contributions are always welcome. Just email a submission to fes.riad@gmail.com. We will only edit for legal or syntax reasons!
We do take more notice of people who use their name ( such as Will whose point of view we always publish).
Such a well patriotic fed article tells how deeply the writer believes in worn out ideology.It would be rational enough to call the Spanish to come back to the north of Morocco and also invite the French to govern the rest of the country. you may wonder why is that ??? the answer is simply the Moroccans can NOT govern themselves.The political system resembles that of 15th century Europe. Meaning,there is still a God representative on earth and this is used socially and economically to control the majority.
In short, i am deadly sure that the majority of Moroccans consciously or unconsciously want the Spanish and the French to come back. at least they would be treated as humans and respect their humanity.
good work. keep on please
don't forget that before portugal took ceuta and melilla, and before the tribes (not a country) from the north of africa invades ceuta and melille and the south of spain. These two cities were spanish, they were spanish before the region of navarra (in the north of spain). Ceuta and melilla has never been part of morocco and if you don't like this idea, i'm sorry but No one in this cities wants a moroccan government.
Post a Comment