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World court to rule on Chagos islands row this month

The International Court of Justice said Friday it will give its view later this month on a bitter dispute between Britain and Mauritius over the Chagos islands, home to a joint US military base.

Judges at the UN’s top court in The Hague will hand down a non-binding legal ruling on February 25 on the future of the British-ruled archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the court said in a statement.

“On Monday 25 February 2019, the International Court of Justice… will deliver its advisory opinion in respect of the Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965,” it said.

In a diplomatic blow to Britain, the UN General Assembly in 2017 adopted a resolution presented by Mauritius and backed by African countries asking the ICJ to offer legal advice on the island chain’s fate.

London split off the remote islands from Mauritius three years before Port Louis gained independence in 1968. Their status has since been at the centre of a bitter dispute spanning five decades.

During the Cold War, London established a combined military base with the US on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands, which was a key staging ground for bombing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Judges heard the case in September, with Mauritius arguing that it was illegal for London to break up its territory while still under colonial rule. Its case was backed by India.

Britain apologised for the “shameful” way it evicted thousands of islanders but insisted Mauritius was wrong to bring the case.

The US meanwhile said the court had a “duty” not to take a position on the row.

While the ICJ’s legal opinion is not binding, it still carries weight and a finding in favour of Mauritius may strengthen its hand in future negotiations over the Chagos islands.

It could also lay the foundation for an eventual formal claim before the ICJ, which was set up after World War II in 1946 to rule in disputes between United Nations member states.