Morocco downplays EU fishing row

The Moroccan government has played down tension with the European Union after the collapse of negotiations on a new bilateral fishing agreement.

Speaking in Rabat, the government spokesman, Mohammed Achaari, said the failure was no tragedy, and discussions could always be restarted.

Mr Achaari also called on the Spanish authorities to clarify their position after a Madrid newspaper said the government there had ordered the suspension of all financial aid to Morocco.

Earlier, the Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, called Rabat's attitude in the negotiations unacceptable.

The row began eighteen months ago when an agreement that had previously allowed around four-thousand fishermen from Portugal and Spain to fish in Moroccan waters expired. The EU's fishing ministers on Wednesday broke off talks with Morocco, blaming it for intransigence.

Estimates say the inability to fish in Moroccan waters may now lead to fifteen thousand job losses in Spain.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service