Plans to end oil border dispute
2005-05-11 11:24
Geneva - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was meeting with the presidents of Cameroon and Nigeria on Wednesday in an attempt to end a border dispute over an oil-rich peninsula between the two West African countries.
President Paul Biya of Cameroon and Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo were reviewing a 2002 ruling at The Hague-based International Court of Justice laying out which land belongs to which country.
The two countries began marking out their border earlier this year after decades of wrangling.
The most coveted part is the Bakassi peninsula, a spit of land jutting into waters prized for reserves of fish and crude oil. The two countries came close to war over the area in the 1980s.
Tensions between the two countries again escalated into military confrontation at the end of 1993, when Nigeria deployed its armed forces to the peninsula. Nigeria missed a September 15 deadline for pulling out, without giving a clear explanation.
- AP