Obasanjo, Biya to abide by ICJ border decision

The leaders of Nigeria and Cameroon said on Thursday they would abide by a decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on a border dispute between the two countries, and would restore friendly relations. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya, discussed their border dispute over the Bakassi Peninsula (to which both countries lay claim) with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the French capital, Paris, according to a statement issued by the United Nations. Both presidents agreed to respect and implement the pending ICJ decision, and to establish implementation mechanisms, with UN support. They also said they would resume ministerial-level meetings of the bilateral Joint Commission on 30 September in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, the statement said. Obasanjo and Biya also agreed on the need for confidence-building measures, including the eventual demilitarisation of Bakassi Peninsula, with the possibility of international observers to monitor the withdrawal of all troops. President Biya is expected to visit Nigeria at an early date, after both leaders recognised that the Bakassi situation 'must be seen' in the wider context of the overall relationship between Nigeria and Cameroon. The Nigerian and Cameroonian leaders also discussed other issues of interest, such as possibilities for economic cooperation, including joint ventures in the water and electricity sectors, according to the UN statement. In 1994, Cameroon asked the ICJ to rule on a dispute "relating essentially to the question of sovereignty over the Bakassi peninsula, saying it was in part under military occupation by Nigeria, and to determine the maritime boundary between the countries. Later that year, Yaonde extended the case to a further dispute relating to "the question of sovereignty over a part of the territory of Cameroon in the area of Lake Chad", which it claimed Nigeria was also occupying.