Cameroon ended on Tuesday a first round of oral submissions to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in its dispute with Nigeria over the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula.
Nigeria, which rejects Cameroon's claims, was expected to begin its defence on Thursday, the court reported.
Cameroon, news agencies reported, asked the court to examine Nigeria's alleged invasion and subsequent military occupation of its territories. Christian Tomuschat, counsel for Cameroon, was quoted as telling the court that Nigeria created a Bakassi Local Government in 1996, without consulting Cameroon.
Cameroon filed the case in 1994 claiming that the disputed area had been under "military occupation by Nigeria since 1975". It wants Nigerian troops withdrawn and reparation for material and non-material damage. Nigeria first rejected Cameroon's claims in 1999, the ICJ said.
Equatorial Guinea became involved in the case in 1999, after intervening "to protect [its] legal rights in the Gulf of Guinea by all legal means", but not as party to the dispute. The detailed programme of the hearings is available on [http://www.icj-cij.org]
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