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. Anglo-Spanish forum targets cooperation following submarine spat
MADRID (AFP) Feb 11, 2005
A forum designed to bolster cooperation between Britain. Spain and Gibraltar opened Friday in the southern city of Malaga, the event coloured by the latest spat over British nuclear submarines visiting the British territory.

Gibraltar's Chief Minister Peter Caruana attended the talks along with British and representatives of Spain, whose Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos had Thursday demanded a promise from London not to send more nuclear-powered subs to dock in the territory which Spain claims.

At Friday's meeting the three parties agreed to set up a working group to make a contingency study of joint use of Gibraltar airport, first mooted in

"(Joint) use of the airport will benefit the whole region around Gibraltar," said Jose Pons, director of European affairs in the Spanish foreign ministry, whose British counterpart Dominick Chilcott led the British delegation.

All parties sought Friday to move on after a week-long visit by British nuclear submarine HMS Sceptre, which left Gibraltar on Wednesday following repairs to an external casing and a fin, sparked Spanish ire.

Caruana himself had last week scolded London, maintaining that Madrid knew more about the visit than his government, which Friday was for the first time taking part in talks on an equal basis.

Angered by a slew of other submarine visits to Gibraltar, on Spain's southern Mediterranean coast, in recent years Moratinos lodged an official complaint to Britain last week about the visit of HMS Sceptre.

Last year, Gibraltar, officially ceded to Britain under the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, celebrated its tercenary of British rule.

Spain maintains a sovereignty claim but Gibraltarians two years ago voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to stay under British rule and the issue has been a running sore for Anglo-Spanish relations.

However, a visit by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw late last year led to an agreement to boost cooperation, including the idea to make joint use of the airport a reality.

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