Colombia ponders leaving treaty over Nicaragua spat

Colombia is considering withdrawing from a treaty that forces it to comply with an international court ruling that grants Nicaragua jurisdiction over Caribbean waters near a Colombian archipelago, the government said.

The International Court of Justice this week ruled that a cluster of disputed small islands in the western Caribbean belonged to Colombia and not to Nicaragua, but drew a demarcation line in favor of Nicaragua in the nearby waters.

The court said the territorial waters extending out from the seven islets, which are nearer Nicaragua's coast than Colombia's, should not cut into Nicaragua's continental shelf.

Source: Reuters