Spanish forces invade disputed island

JEBEL LEILA, Morocco -- Elite Spanish soldiers swooped in aboard helicopters Wednesday, capturing a disputed Mediterannean island occupied by Moroccan soldiers for more than a week. Neither side fired a shot.\nThe Spanish soldiers quickly detained the troops in the surprise assault on the island claimed by both countries, supplanting the Moroccan flag with their own. Morocco said the operation was tantamount to "an act of war" and demanded that Spain withdraw.\nTensions have escalated in the week since Morocco established an outpost on the tiny island known in Spanish as Isla Perejil -- Parsley Island -- and in Arabic as Leila -- Night.\nRelations between the two countries, which face each other across the Strait of Gibraltar, have soured since Morocco recalled its ambassador to Madrid last fall.\nThe countries have bickered over illegal immigration and fishing rights, as well as Madrid's insistence that a U.N.-sponsored referendum should be held on the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in the 1970s.\nMadrid-based political analyst Charles Powell said the response of the government of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was comparable to Margaret Thatcher's attitude toward Argentina's 1982 attempt to take the Falkland Islands by force, which led to a British-Argentine war. However, the island in the Mediterranean is unoccupied -- unlike the Falklands.\nAlthough Powell said it was inconceivable that Spain and Morocco would go to war, he said Aznar was sending a message: "You don't treat a major European power like this and think you can get away with it."\nSpain says it has controlled the island since 1668, even though it abandoned a permanent presence four decades ago. The island lies about three miles from Ceuta, one of two Spanish city enclaves along Morocco's northern coast.\nMorocco also claims title to the island and said it set up the "observation post" to combat smuggling of drugs and illegal immigrants.\nOn July 11, a 12-member Moroccan police unit landed on the island, set up tents and raised the national flag. They were later replaced by Moroccan soldiers.\nSpain responded by deploying five warships and initially saying it wanted to resolve the dispute through negotiations.\nBut early Wednesday, Defense Minister Federico Trillo ordered the eviction of the Moroccans.\n"Spain had been attacked by the force in a sensitive point of its geography," he told an emergency session of the parliamentary foreign and defense committees.\nJust before dawn, five Spanish military helicopters flew toward the island. From the air, the Moroccans were ordered to put down their weapons and surrender. Three helicopters with 28 Spanish soldiers landed, took the Moroccans into custody and set up a base on the island, Trillo said.\nThe Moroccans were taken to Ceuta.\nThe Spanish move was protested around Morocco.\nOn Jebel Leila, a bluff on the Moroccan shore just 200 yards from the island, hundreds of Moroccans hurled rocks in vain at Spanish patrol boats, shouting "Enough of Spanish colonialism!"\n"This is not just a rock, it's a part of our country," said Fatima, a 56-year-old woman who refused to give her last name.\n"The land belongs to Morocco. It's not Spanish," said Rashid Harsal, a 22-year-old protester outside the Spanish consulate in the coastal city of Tetuan.\nOn the island, a dozen Spanish soldiers were building what appeared to be a small stone wall along the shore as Spain's yellow-and-red flag flapped overhead. Two soldiers patrolled the island as a helicopter and five warships patrolled nearby.\nIn Madrid, Foreign Minister Ana Palacio was conciliatory, saying "Spain has no interest in maintaining a permanent military presence" and that the government was open to talks with Morocco.\nBut Morocco protested what its foreign minister called an "invasion, in contradiction with international law" and asked the international community to pressure Spain to withdraw.\nMoroccan Foreign Minister Mohammed Benaissa told reporters the Spanish landing was "an ignoble act which amounts to an act of war."\nHe said Spain's move came hours after the two sides had reached an accord mediated by the United States. He said the accord provided a "return to the status quo" provided that Spain not return to the island.\nIn Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States had urged a peaceful settlement and Secretary of State Colin Powell had been in touch with the foreign ministers of both countries during the standoff.\nAt the United Nations in New York, Secretary-General Kofi Annan offered his "good offices" to resolve the dispute.\nThe secretary-general "hopes that both parties will adhere to their original undertaking to resolve the issue through peaceful means," U.N. deputy spokeswoman Hua Jiang said.\nThe 320-acre island has a large cave that was reportedly used as a staging area for boats ferrying illegal immigrants.\nIn ancient times, it is thought to have been one of the mythological Pillars of Hercules, along with the Rock of Gibraltar across the strait. Historians have connected the island with Ogigia, mentioned in Homer's "The Odyssey."\nSpain recently accused Morocco of not doing enough to crack down on criminal gangs that smuggled illegal immigrants from Africa.\nIn Cairo, Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, said the 22-nation bloc considers that "Leila Island is Moroccan" but called for the issue to be resolved through negotiations.\nThe European Union has backed Spain, but offered to facilitate dialogue between the countries.\nNATO officials said the alliance was pleased the status quo has been restored and that there had been no injuries.