MADRID (Reuters) - Spain will set up a network of radar, sensors and cameras along its south coast in a bid to intercept thousands of illegal immigrants who try to enter the country each year, the government has said. The project, said to be the first of its kind in Europe, involves spending 142 million euros (91 million pounds) to protect the 110 kms (70 miles) of coast closest to Morocco.

Over the next two years technicians will set up a combination of fixed and mobile sensors with radar and day and night vision cameras with a range of up to 20 km.

The Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain from Morocco -- and wealthy Europe from poorer Africa -- is only 14 km across at its narrowest point.

"The system will allow not only effective control of our maritime border in detecting illegal human traffickers, but will also be an efficient tool in the fight against smuggling, organised crime, drug trafficking and money laundering," a government statement said.

Spain has been at the forefront of European Union attempts to crack down on illegal immigration.

Interior Minister Angel Acebes, presenting the surveillance project in the south coast city of Algeciras, said 12,000 illegal immigrants had been stopped and expelled so far this year.

Civil guards have rescued 730 people from the sea in the Strait since 2000 and humanitarian organisations say several thousand people are likely to have drowned on the way.

Thirteen bodies washed up on the shore near Tarifa on August 1 after traffickers forced their passengers to jump into the water some distance from the beach.

On Tuesday, security forces in the Canary Islands, another favourite route for traffickers, intercepted 93 illegal immigrants who had made it to shore.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002