MADRID, May 30 (UPI) -- Spain has rejected a U.S. request to search suspect vessels in Spanish waters to avert possible terrorist attacks on its warships, the daily El Pais reported Thursday.
Madrid refused the U.S. request on the grounds that Spanish security forces were fully capable of searching all vessels that enter its territorial waters and of guaranteeing the security of American military bases in Spain, the paper said.
The American request was made earlier this month on the basis of a defense agreement signed by the two countries last month that allows U.S. forces, in coordination with Spanish security agencies, to conduct investigations on Spanish territory to ensure the security of the U.S. naval base at Rota and air base at Moron, both in southern Spain.
According to recent news reports, extremist groups might seek to take advantage of the heavy shipping traffic through the Straits of Gibraltar to attack U.S. Sixth Fleet warships based at Rota.
