International Court of Justice sides with Equatorial Guinea in Gabon island dispute

Equatorial Guinea has been rowing with Gabon for decades over three islands in potentially oil-rich waters.

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The two Central African countries have been arguing over the isles - Conga, Mbanié and Cocoteros - since the early 1970s.

The islands are virtually uninhabited but are in a maritime zone thought to contain significant oil deposits.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Equatorial Guinea's claim - based on a 1900 treaty dividing up French and Spanish colonial assets - should be honoured.

The court dismissed Gabon's central argument - that a more recent treaty, the 1974 Bata convention, had switched the islands' sovereignty in its favour.