MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar: Breaking News.

Headlines:
Cruise dispute rocks Anglo-Spanish talks.

Spain promises “secure, stable future”.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office threatened to take legal action against Spain unless there was an immediate resolution to the dispute reports The Times from London. The issue is expected to feature in talks between Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister Miguel Moratinos and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw this Friday in London. The Ministers meet for their first bilateral over-lunchtime and are expected to cover broad international issues as well as touching on Gibraltar. The London-based Passenger Shipping Association (PSA), which represents 32 of the world's leading cruise lines, has complained to the Spanish Government about the boycott to cruise vessels that call in Gibraltar which is causing chaos to their itineraries that include Gibraltar and Spain. In a letter to the Spanish Embassy, William Gibbons, director of the PSA warned Spain that the action by Spanish ports could threaten "the whole business of cruising in the western Mediterranean, with customers choosing to take their holidays elsewhere." Spain is making use of an obscure EU regulation passed in 1986 that restricts the entry of non-EU vessels into European Union ports. Silversea Cruises, the latest company to cancel a visit to Gibraltar, rerouted its ship, "Silver Wind", out of Lisbon to the Spanish ports of Cádiz and Málaga. Michael Sugden, a spokesman for Silversea, said: "We have decided to cancel all stops in Gibraltar for the rest of the year because of the edginess of the political situation." The Times quoted a British diplomat as saying: "We don't see any justification or legal basis for what they are doing. It's a strange way to go about it if you say that you want to return to serious discussions about relations between Spain, Britain and Gibraltar." The Dutch-registered "Prinsendam" with 700 passengers aboard was denied docking at the Spanish port of Tarragona last Tuesday. It was the eighth such ship to have been affected by the Spanish ban that came into effect three weeks ago. Speaking to The Times and BBC, Joe Holliday, Gibraltar's Minister for Trade, Industry and Communications highlighted that a number of ships have taken the decision of not calling at Gibraltar because they would not be allowed to visit Spain. "This is unacceptable and unjustifiable," he said adding that this is really a no-win situation for everybody because, in every case, either we or Spain is going to lose the call". "There are EU citizens travelling on these cruisers and they are being denied their right of free movement within the EU. We have been singled out by Spain purely for political reasons. No other EU country is interpreting the regulation in this way. It's an attempt by the Spanish Government to undermine one of the pillars of our economy." "Whenever a particular sector of our economy is doing well, we get an attack on it from Spain. The time has come for the Foreign Office to take a more energetic view and to tackle something which is outside the spirit of the EU", Mr. Holliday told The Times.

Spain promises "secure, stable future"

In a statement to the Special Committee on Decolonisation seminar meeting in Papua New Guinea, the representative for Spain expressed the support of his country to the report adopted by consensus at the seminar held in the Valley, Anguilla last year. He also affirmed Spain's commitment to making possible a secure, stable and prosperous future for Gibraltar. The session opened with a statement from Secretary-General Kofi Annan which said that cooperation is essential to achieving self-determination for all the peoples of the world. While he noted the significant accomplishments of the United Nations in this field, the Secretary-General also pointed out that today, 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories still remained on the United Nations list. He asked that those attending the Seminar listen to one another and he reminded the international community of its duty in bringing the process of decolonisation to a successful conclusion. According to an official UN report these issues were reiterated in discussions throughout the first meeting, attended by representatives from numerous States and Territories. The Seminar is being hosted by the Government of Papua New Guinea and convened by the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, the Special Committee of 24 on Decolonisation. The meeting is conducted within the framework of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2001-2010). At the end of 2000, the Special Committee concluded that the seminars had been an effective forum for focused discussion on matters of concern to the Non-Self-Governing Territories and had provided opportunities for representatives of the peoples of the Territories to present their views and recommendations to the Committee. Opening the Seminar, the Chairman of the Special Committee, Robert Guba Aisi (Papua New Guinea), called for fresh, innovative and "out of the box" ideas and recommendations from delegates. It was crucial that those ideas generated direct action in order to advance the implementation of the mandate entrusted to the Committee, to bring an end to colonialism in the region. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration of Papua New Guinea, Rabbie Namaliu KCMG MP, welcomed delegates to the Pacific Seminar and reminded them of the achievements of the Committee to date, across all continents. Mr. Namaliu noted that in the Pacific region there are still five Territories on the United Nations list, with many common features and problems. The role of the Special Committee generated some lively discussion following an address by its former Chairman, Ambassador Peter Donigi. His introduction of the term the "way upward" and recommendations regarding the Seminar and Committee resources incited responses from representatives of independent and Non-Self-Governing Territories, including Spain, United States Virgin Islands, Papua New Guinea and Cuba. There was significant support for a continuation of the annual Seminars and a call for more action on resolutions adopted by the Special Committee.