MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

HMS Tireless: Spain satisfied with FCO reply.

Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos expressed satisfaction this Monday with a pledge from British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that the nuclear submarine HMS Tireless will leave Gibraltar “in a couple of days”.

"It is less than the week some foresaw and, above all, it is less than the year it was docked there on a previous occasion", said Mr. Morantinos.

HMS Tireless was stranded for almost a year at the port of Gibraltar - from May 19, 2000, to May 7, 2001 - because of a breakdown in the reactor's refrigeration system, sparking protests in southern Spain and Gibraltar.

Mr. Moratinos told reporters that he began his bilateral meeting with Mr. Straw in Brussels (for an EU foreign ministers' meeting) by saying: "I'm tired with the HMS Tireless" and that he subsequently requested an expedited departure for the submarine from Gibraltar.

Apparently Mr. Straw immediately consulted with his team and announced the nuclear submarine would be leaving Gibraltar "in two days" according to Mr. Moratinos.

Straw also told Moratinos that London "understood the sensitivity" of the submarine's visit to Gibraltar, which came amid celebrations to mark the 300th anniversary of British rule in the Rock.

Moratinos added that "it's not that the question is settled" but that the Spanish government hopes the visit "will not be repeated" and will "continue to evaluate the level and development of our relations" with Britain.

On the other hand Mr. Moratinos asked Spaniards to be "objective" concerning the development of events. Mr. Moratinos insisted that HMS Tireless' current visit "has been safe, because it has not had problems of any kind this time, and the visit has been short". "Last time, it was here for a year. This time, it will be here for five days" he said.