ICJ to deliver Bakassi judgment

The International Court of Justice is to deliver its judgment on the boundary dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria on 10 October, the ICJ reported on Thursday. "The ICJ will deliver its Judgment in the case concerning the Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria (Cameroon v. Nigeria: Equatorial Guinea intervening) on 10 October," an ICJ press statement said. "A public sitting will be held at The Hague, at which the President of the Court, Judge Gilbert Guillaume, will read the Judgment, which is binding and not subject to appeal," it added. The case stems from a 1994 complaint filed by Cameroon, seeking a ruling in a dispute over sovereignty of the Bakassi peninsula and determination of a maritime boundary between the countries. Cameron accused Nigeria of militarily occupying the peninsula. Later that year, Cameroon 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. On 6 September Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya, discussed the dispute with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the French capital, Paris. They agreed to respect and implement the pending ICJ decision, and to establish implementation mechanisms with UN support. 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. On Monday, the two countries agreed to revive all treaties and cooperation agreements between them that were rendered dormant by the dispute.