World court: Disputed islands belong to Colombia

AMSTERDAM/THE HAGUE: The International Court of Justice said yesterday that a cluster of disputed islets in the western Caribbean belonged to Colombia and not to Nicaragua.
In 2007, the court ruled in a long-running dispute between the two countries that three larger islands also belonged to Colombia.
The International Court of Justice says a group of tiny islands in the western Caribbean belong to Colombia, rejecting Nicaragua’s claim in a long-running territorial dispute between the two Latin American nations.
Nicaragua first went to the world court, the United Nations’ highest judicial organ, in 2001 arguing that Colombia had no legal claim to the islands. The court partially rejected that argument in 2007, saying a 1928 treaty between the two countries established that Colombia owned the islands of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina.
Yesterday, the judges ruled that other islands in the region also belong to Colombia. They also will set the maritime borders based on Colombia’s ownership of the islands.
International Court of Justice rulings are final and legally binding.