Further to Dan Dzurek's note back in February, the Panafrican News
Agency has reported that Benin and Niger signed an agreement last
Thursday to submit a number of boundary issues to the International
Court of Justice. The text of the report is appended below. Sovereignty
over Lete Island has been in dispute since the two countries gained
independence from France, and there also appears to be disagreement over
whether the boundary in the the rivers Mekrou and Niger follows the
thalweg or the median line. If anyone has any more information on recent
developments relating to these matters, we would love to hear from you!
m a r t i n
---Text of report---
Niamey, Niger (PANA) - Benin and Niger have reached an agreement to
submit their Niger River border dispute to The Hague-based International
Court of Justice (ICJ), official sources in Niamey revealed Thursday.
The sources said the two sides signed an agreement to this effect last
week during a meeting in Cotonou, Benin. Under the accord, the two
parties requested ICJ to determine where the border between the two
countries lies, particularly on Lete Island. They also asking the ICJ to
determine the correct demarcation line in the Mekrou sector. According
to the agreement, the two parties promised to accept the borders
inherited from colonial rule and to accept the ICJ's ruling on the
dispute. The dispute over the ownership of the island has persisted
although the Benin-Niger border demarcation commission has held six
rounds of talks in an attempt to settle the affair peacefully.
---ends---
==================================
Martin Pratt
Research Officer
International Boundaries Research Unit
Mountjoy Research Centre, Suite 3P
University of Durham
Durham DH1 3UR
United Kingdom
+44 (0)191 374 7704 (direct line)
+44 (0)191 374 7702 (fax)
[log in to unmask] (email)
http://www-ibru.dur.ac.uk (World Wide Web)
==================================
|