British Ambassador summoned over Spanish flag shooting in Gibraltar

By James Parkes
THE NEW British Ambassador to Spain, Giles Paxman, was summoned to an urgent meeting by foreign affairs minister Miguel Angel Moratinos today (Friday) over an incident involving an insult to the Spanish flag by Royal Navy members off Gibraltar.

The incident was disclosed this morning, but actually took place on Tuesday, when a Guardia Civil patrol along the Straits discovered a Royal Navy vessel recovering a buoy over five nautical miles of Gibraltar. The buoy had a Spanish flag on in and the soldiers had been carrying out target practice with it.

According to Sr Moratinos office, Ambassador Paxman has offered his ‘apologies for the lack of sensibility and judgement' shown by the Royal Navy members and has promised to open a in-depth investigation to find out those who were responsible for the action and make such incidents do not occur again.

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