International Court of Justice sides with Equatorial Guinea in Gabon island dispute

The United States Supreme Court with Equatorial Guinea sided, respectively, with Gabon, on three islands in oil -rich water.

The countries in Central Africa have been arguing around the islands – Conga, Mbanié and Cocoteros – since the early 1970s.

Carrots are almost uninhabited, but in a marine area are believed to have large oil deposits.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the Equatorial Guinea claim – based on the 1900 Treaty that divides the French and Spanish colonial origins – must be honored.

The court rejected the central argument of Gabon – that the most recent treaty, the Batta conference in 1974, had transformed the sovereignty of the islands in its favor.

In a final and binding decision, Icj said that the Sunga, MBANIIé and Cocoteos were detained by Spain, then moved to the former tropical Guinea colony in 1968.

Gabon will now have to remove its soldiers from Mbanié, the largest island.

In 1972, the Gabonese army led the contributing forces from Mbanié and established its military presence there.

Handiclets are cooled until early 2000, when the possibility of oil in the Gulf of Guinea became clear.

In 2016, the two countries agreed years of mediation by the United Nations to allow the International Court Foundation to settle the matter.

A spokesman for the Gabonese Presidency said that the matter is now to the two countries to negotiate in light of the ruling, according to Agence France -Presse.

“Gabon and Guinea must live side by side, we cannot get away from each other. So we will have to talk about it to solve all these problems,” said Jay Rosatanga Regot.

Both countries are important oil producers. However, they have suffered from decreased oil production in recent years due to a lack of investment, insufficient exploration activity and aging wells.