MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar row in UK Cabinet

An astonishing row has broken out in the British Government between the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office over Gibraltar which has echoes of what happened leading to the 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands.

An astonishing row has broken out in the British Government between the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office over Gibraltar which has echoes of what happened leading to the 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. According to press reports, Britain's talks with Spain on whether there should be joint sovereignty over Gibraltar have caused a rift in the Cabinet.

The Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon is reported to have written a strongly worded letter to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw denouncing the proposed joint sovereignty deal as contrary to the principle of self determination and damaging to Britain's strategic military interests.

Not surprisingly the British Government has refused to comment on the reports, neither confirming nor denying them. When Mercopress contacted both the Foreign and Defence Ministries, the reaction was the same: "We do not comment on leaks of private correspondence". This implies that correspondence does exist.

Mr Hoon's letter is said to reflect concern among British and United States Armed Forces that any deal could damage the operational capability of Gibraltar's naval base and military airfield. Both Ministers have repeatedly insisted in Parliament that its military assets, which are of vital strategic value to the United Kingdom, would remain solely under British control. However the Spanish Government is understood to be pressing for a "joint use" agreement similar to those it has with the United States in Moron and Rota. MoD support for self-determination

The London "Times" newspaper, in a front page lead story, says it has received leaks of the letter, which has infuriated diplomats and Foreign Office Ministers. They say the terms of the agreement with Spain had been agreed with the Ministry of Defence.

The "Times" quotes Mr Hoon's letter as saying that all available evidence shows that the "clear majority" of Gibraltar's 30,000 people are "opposed to the negotiations " and want to remain British subjects. There are suggestions that Mr Hoon's intervention is timed to cause maximum damage at an important stage in the negotiations ahead of a visit by the Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, to Britain in June.

The "Times" recalls that policy differences between the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence have in the past had serious consequences. It says their dispute over the withdrawal of the ice patrol ship HMS Endurance from the South Atlantic, encouraged the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands.

Gibraltar's strategic position at the gateway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean has led to the bitter controversy over its sovereignty since it was ceded to Britain under the 1714 Treaty of Utrecht.

Harold Briley, London