UK Reaction To Guardia Civil SHootings in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters

UK Reaction To Guardia Civil Shootings in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters

It is about time that the UK Media actually covered the problems in Gibraltar caused by the ARMED paramilitary Guardia Civils in Gibraltar.

It is a disgrace that we have had to wait for a shooting at a jetski user to be able to attract this coverage. Remember that no one in any place in the world would put up with this kind of behaviour from another country's armed personnel!

Spain continues to LIE and DENY but thank goodness We have video footage to prove it! SPAIN should stop lying and admit it as the whole world can see the truth!

See below the link to the TRUTH that SPANISH ARMED GUARDIA CIVILS ENTERED OUR BRITISH GIBRALTAR TERRITORIAL WATERS AND SHOT FOUR SHOTS TO THE JET SKI USER!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gJW0cX-RkA

Spain is part of NATO and in the European Union and yet not only does daily incursions in OUR WATERS - but worse actually shoot at innocent jetski users!

What next? 
Do we sit idly by and wait till a death happens? 
What is our UK Government doing? 
What is FCO doing? 
WHAT is European Union going to do? 
What is United Nations going to do?

Please from whatever country you read our predicament - help and support us!
Lobby with us to UK Parliament, European Parliament and United Nations! 
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What adds more insult to injury is that despite our protests to UK Government, Our Majesty the Queen and even to the FCO - Spain continue to invade our waters! - 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2348844/Spanish-police-make-SECOND-incursion-British-waters-Gibraltar.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490


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Sky news reported
http://news.sky.com/story/1108323/gibraltar-jetski-shooting-uk-protests-to-spain

A diplomatic row has broken out after a Spanish police patrol boat apparently fired shots at a British jetskier off Gibraltar.

Minister for Europe David Lidington said he had protested to Spain after the Guardia Civil boat reportedly made an "illegal incursion" into Gibraltar's territorial waters.
The jetskier said he was left "shaken" by the shooting.
"There were three policemen on the boat and I actually saw one of them with a gun in his hand," Dale Villa, 32, told English language news website the Olive Press.

"I was just about to drop my friend off at West Beach when I heard the first shot. I don't really think we took it seriously or believed it could be a gun, but clearly it was.
"Anyway I jumped back on again and whizzed off before realising the boat was chasing after me and had soon fired three more shots at me.
"I was very shaken and furious. When a huge boat is hurtling after you and you hear gunshots it is very scary."
Onlookers claimed to have seen large rubber or plastic baton rounds being fired from the Guardia Civil boat and splashing into the water.
In a statement, Mr Lidington said: "I spoke today with Spanish minister for the European Union, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, in order to protest in the strongest terms following an incident on Sunday in British Gibraltar territorial waters.
"During an illegal incursion by a Guardia Civil vessel, a Guardia Civil officer fired a weapon. I made clear that the discharge of a weapon in or near Gibraltar is completely unacceptable.
"I urged Senor Mendez de Vigo to investigate urgently and to take action to ensure that this will not happen again."

A Guardia boat like the one from which shots were fired pic: David Merrett

Mr Lidington said he has also instructed the British charge d'affaires in Madrid to protest in person to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to demand a full explanation.
Gibraltar has been a British colony since 1713, but Spain publicly disputes Gibraltar's sovereignty and insists it has the right to fish in Gibraltan waters.
The confrontation is the latest skirmish between Britain and Spain involving the territory.
In May 2012, four police vessels and Royal Navy patrol boat intercepted a Spanish trawler which was fishing off the rock after it ignored warnings to stop.
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More Press Coverage - 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2349259/Wheres-Nelson-need-As-Spanish-British-jet-skier-Gibraltar-man-armada-sails-broadside.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2350760/David-Cameron-confronts-Spanish-PM-shots-fired-British-waters-Gibraltar.html

http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2013/06/24/gib-jet-ski-shooting/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23103010

http://en.mercopress.com/2013/06/25/foreign-office-protests-to-spain-chase-and-shooting-incident-in-gibraltar-waters

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130627/gibraltar-protests-cameron-spain-shooting-row

 http://www.thelocal.es/20130627/spain-shuns-gibraltar-jet-ski-shooting-claims

http://www.gbc.gi/news/1948/picardo-writes-to-cameron-about-guardia-civil-shooting

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/10148722/Cameron-demands-inquiry-over-unacceptable-jet-ski-shooting-incident.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/10142278/Spanish-Guardia-Civil-fires-at-a-jet-skier-off-Gibraltar.html




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The Vox reports: http://vox.gi/index.php?news=7523

SKIJET SHOOTING AND FURTHER INCURSIONS SPARK INTERNATIONAL ROW

By Vox Editor 23 hours 42 minutes ago   This article has been read 839 times.

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Cameron: "I think it’s very important the people of Gibraltar know that we support them, we support their sovereignty."

David Cameron today confronted the Spanish Prime Minister over ‘unacceptable’ threats made to Gibraltar after shots were fired at a jet-skier, according to the Mail on line.
The Mail website says that Cameron ‘warned Mariano Rajoy that he would not tolerate breaches of international law.’
The row comes after two more incursions – reported by VOX (as photo shows) - were made on the two consecutive days that followed Lidington’s protest
The Mail on line says that’ David Cameron  confronted his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy at a summit in Brussels over Spanish police entering British waters and firing shots at a jet ski
‘Mr Cameron used a meeting in Brussels to censure Mr Rajoy, as tensions between Spain and the UK have escalated.
 ‘Speaking at a press conference in Brussels today, Mr Cameron said: “I have raised this with the Spanish Prime minister. I think this is a totally unacceptable episode and I made that clear. I think it’s very important the people of Gibraltar know that we support them, we support their sovereignty, we will always stand up for them and stand by them. I think it’s very important countries obey all the international rules, all the international laws.”’

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Press TV reports - http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/06/25/310828/spat/

Gibraltar shooting incident sparks diplomatic spat between UK & Spain

Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:37PM GMT

8

The UK government has described as “illegal incursion” the entrance by a Spanish Guardia Civil vessel into British territorial waters around Gibraltar, local media reported.

The incident is said to have happened on Sunday when the Guardia Civil vessel strayed into the territorial waters and an officer onboard the vessel fired a weapon.

In a statement, Europe Minister David Lidington, strongly condemned the incident, saying that he had sought assurance from his Spanish counterpart that action would be taken to ensure there was no repeat of the incident.

"I spoke today with Spanish minister for the European Union, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, in order to protest in the strongest terms following an incident on June 23 in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW). During an illegal incursion by a Guardia Civil vessel, a Guardia Civil officer fired a weapon," he said.

"I made clear that the discharge of a weapon in or near Gibraltar is completely unacceptable. I urged Senor Mendez de Vigo to investigate urgently and to take action to ensure that this will not happen again."

Britain and Spain are at loggerheads over which country has sovereignty over the island that has been occupied and claimed by the UK government. Britain considers Gibraltar and the Malvinas Islands, off Argentina as its territory, but the claims are not recognized by both Spanish and Argentines.

Lidington said he also instructed the British charge d'affaires in Madrid to protest in person to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to demand a full explanation.

The incident is understood to have involved a chase by the Guardia Civil vessel which pursed a Gibraltarian jet ski into British Gibraltar territorial waters.

MOL/HE

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The Gibraltar Chronicle reports - http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=29872

Cameron corners Rajoy over waters incursions

by Brian Reyes

British Prime Minister David Cameron has confronted Mariano Rajoy and demanded an explanation for Sunday’s “illegal incursion” into British Gibraltar territorial waters.
Mr Cameron expressed his anger at the incident in clear terms and said Britain stood firmly behind Gibraltar in defence of its sovereignty.
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Cameron said he wanted to make sure a full investigation took place and said it was important that countries followed international law.
“I did raise this with the Spanish Prime Minister,” he said. “I think this is a totally unacceptable episode and I made that clear.”
 
“I think it is very important that people on Gibraltar know that we support them, we support their sovereignty.”
Mr Cameron protested to the Spanish Prime Minister after a Guardia Civil officer fired a weapon while chasing a local jet skier in British waters.
British sources said Mr Cameron “made a beeline” for Sr Rajoy soon after arriving at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. Spain has repeatedly denied that any shots were fired in British waters but eyewitness accounts and video footage filmed by onlookers contradict that claim.
“We need to find out more about what happened but from what I have heard... it is not acceptable,” Mr Cameron added.


LOCAL REACTIONS
The Prime Minister’s intervention took place almost at the same time as Gibraltar’s elected MPs expressed unanimous support in the Gibraltar Parliament for a motion calling for a tougher response from Britain to the Spanish incursions.
News of Mr Cameron’s exchange with Sr Rajoy was welcomed in Gibraltar yesterday.
“I wrote to the Prime Minister on Wednesday and my letter was as clear and unequivocal as the motion on this subject which I proposed and that was unanimously passed by Parliament yesterday,” Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said.
“Less than a fortnight ago I spoke to Mr Cameron during my visit to Downing Street about illegal incursions.”
“The Prime Minister has been true to his word and, even as we debated the motion in Parliament yesterday, he was acting in support of his staunch commitment to the integrity of British sovereignty of the waters around Gibraltar.”
“The people of Gibraltar will join with me in thanking him for taking this issue directly and immediately, at the very highest level, to the Spanish Prime Minister.”
“The issue now is about supporting the Royal Navy’s Gibraltar Squadron, the Royal Gibraltar Police and Gibraltar Defence Police in preventing a recurrence of these illegal incursions which have been ongoing since 2010.”


OPPOSITION
Opposition leader Daniel Feetham also welcomed the Prime Minister’s words but said the UK needed to treat incursions in Gibraltar waters in the same manner as if they were happening off Plymouth.
He said the UK should deploy a larger naval vessel to Gibraltar to act as a deterrent, adding that “…a policy of protest will not work if it is not backed up by firmer action.”
“No one wants to see gun boat diplomacy but these are British people who are being threatened in British Territorial Waters,” he said.
“I said in Parliament that despite the work done by the RGP, the GDP and the Boat Squadron, the Royal Navy is responsible for protecting the sovereignty of our waters.”
“This cannot be done effectively with the assets at the disposal of the Boat Squadron.”
“The GDP and the RGP in particular are a thin blue line in our waters doing what they can in very difficult and trying circumstances.”

SPANISH DENIAL
Yesterday a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for the Guardia Civil, once again “categorically” denied that its officers had shot at the jet ski.
The spokesman told the Spanish news service Europa Press that Mr Picardo had accused Spain “…without any basis or demonstrable facts of the standard that must be required of political institutions.”
In fact, the first complaint against Spain was made by British Europe Minister David Lidington, not by Mr Picardo.
Mr Lidington berated his Spanish counterpart, Íñigo Mendez de Vigo, in person at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, the day after the shooting.
Prior to that, UK officials – together with Gibraltar police and British military personnel - in the UK and Gibraltar had closely analysed witness statements and video footage of the incident.
Some of the footage – which was taken by onlookers from at least three different angles – clearly shows the incident unfolding in British waters.
At least four shots can be heard.
“The eyewitness accounts and video footage leave no doubt as to what happened on Sunday,” one source said.
Three senior sources have also told the Chronicle that the Guardia Civil crew confirmed the incident to the Royal Gibraltar Police in a radio exchange shortly after it was over.
The RGP has declined to comment on this.

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Come on people be brave and support us to stand up to the BULLY that SPAIN is!

Anne-Marie Struggles