Spain and Morocco are set to hold high-level reconciliation talks after being persuaded by the US to step back from a dispute over the uninhabited islet of Perejil in the Mediterranean Sea.
Newly-appointed Spanish Foreign Minister Ms Ana Palacio is due to meet her Moroccan counterpart, Mr Mohamed Benaissa, today in a symbolic encounter in the Moroccan capital Rabat. They hope to draw a line under a period of bitter mistrust.
Morocco claims sovereignty over Perejil, a tiny rock islet just off the Moroccan coast and four miles from Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta.
Ten days ago, Morocco sent a handful of troops to the deserted islet, only to be ousted without a shot being fired by Spanish forces.
Spain withdrew its troops from Perejil on Saturday night, shortly after a US-brokered deal between Madrid and Rabat.
Yesterday the 30-acre islet had returned to its usual status - uninhabited except for a few grazing goats.
Despite Morocco's claim to the islet, Spain hopes for guarantees from Rabat that Perejil can maintain its previously peaceful unoccupied status.
The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, who pushed for a swift end to the row between the two US allies in an intense series of telephone negotiations, said the deal could be the starting point for better relations between the Mediterranean neighbours.
Although their proximity and trade ties mean they are key partners, the dispute is the latest in a long series between Spain and Morocco who have squabbled over illegal immigration, fishing rights, oil exploration and the future of western Sahara.
Morocco also has designs on the Spanish north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which Spain has consistently said are not up for negotiation.
Spanish newspaper editorials reflected relief that the situation had been brought to a quick close.
"Finally diplomacy saved an absurd situation . . . in which policy on the Spanish side has not been what we might expect from a country that brags of its weight on the international stage", said left-leaning El Pais in an editorial.
Right-wing daily ABC, while defending the actions of the government, agreed on the importance of normalising neighbourly relationships. "The solution agreed should serve as a basis for future steps which contribute to re-establishing relations, the deterioration of which did not benefit anyone."
However conservative Barcelona daily La Vanguardia was harsher. "In the past few days we have reached an absurd and anachronistic situation, in which old geopolitical strategies and completely outmoded questions of territory appear to have been reborn."
Perejil's only use to date has been by local Moroccans to graze goats and by drug smugglers to stash cannabis resin. Both countries have shared its policing.
Morocco's official MAP news agency, which usually reflects the government's line on diplomatic issues, hailed the deal as a victory and said the accord ended the "Spanish occupation" of the islet.
"(The accord) strengthened Morocco's position because it put as a precondition for dialogue the immediate withdrawal of the invading forces, which was obtained in the end," it said.
Spain's newly-appointed Interior Minister, Mr Angel Acebes, told ABC newspaper the deal could not be seen as a victory for either side - setting a conciliatory tone which has been notably lacking in the two sides' most recent exchanges. - (Reuters)