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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 02, 2002

Spain Rejects Morocco's Claim to Two Enclaves

Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said Thursday that Morocco's claim to Spain's enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the north African coast had no legal grounds under international law.


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Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said Thursday that Morocco's claim to Spain's enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the north African coast had no legal grounds under international law.

In response to the remarks by Morocco's King Mohammed, who criticized Spain on Tuesday for its refusal to negotiate on the issue of the two enclave cities held by Spain for centuries, the foreign minister said the areas are under "unquestionable" Spanish sovereignty.

"Under the international law, the situation is quite clear: Ceuta and Melilla are territory of the European Union (EU), unlike(British administered) Gibraltar," said Palacio in an interview with local radio.

"Portraying Spain as a colonialist country over Ceuta and Melilla cannot be justified under any law. This is the reply of the Spanish government," she added.

Spain has consistently maintained that the future of the two city enclaves is not up for negotiations.

Relations between Spain and Morocco, neighbors across a narrow straight of the Mediterranean, were strained last month when the two nations had a military stand-off over an inhabited islet off the Morocco coast.


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