Morocco and Spain agreed to a "frank and sincere dialogue" and will meet again in September to discuss their competing claims to a tiny Mediterranean island that ignited a 10-day military standoff, the Moroccan foreign ministry said Monday. Two days after Spain withdrew its forces, both countries maintained their claims to the island, according to a joint statement released after talks between Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa and his counterpart, Ana Palacio.

The countries agreed that the uninhabited island will remain as it was before the conflict started.

The ministers' encounter was the highest-level meeting between the two sparring neighbors to take place since Morocco abruptly recalled its ambassador from Madrid last October.

The talks were made possible by the U.S.-coordinated withdrawal of Spanish Legionnaires from the island, 200 yards from the Moroccan border. It is called Leila, or Night, by Morocco and Perejil, or Parsley, by Spain.

MOROCCO'S INITIAL ACTION IN QUESTION

Opposition newspapers in Morocco have openly questioned the reasons for Morocco's initial action, which officials called a routine periodic check on the smuggling of drugs and clandestine immigrants from Morocco to Spain across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar.

But, said the socialist Liberation, "even though the pretext was not very serious, it nevertheless succeeded in broaching a state of affairs that is much more serious for both countries."

L'Opinion, owned by the nationalist Istiqlal party, said the fate of Western Sahara would also certainly be discussed. Morocco has occupied the former Spanish territory since 1975 and intends to hold on to it.

A referendum sponsored by the United Nations is mired in difficulties, and recently the United States and France have begun to back Morocco's position over the claims of the Polisario Liberation Movement to the phosphate-rich territory

PHOTO CAPTION

An unidentified Moroccan man plants a Moroccan flag near the village of Belyounech, Morocco, as Perejil Island can be seen in the background Sunday, July 21, 2002. (AP Photo/str)