Moussa congratulates Yemen and Eritrea

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa commented on the outcome of the international court's judgement on Yemeni sovereignty over the Hanish Islands, saying there is no doubt that Egyptian diplomacy, which followed up with great concern the problem between Yemen and Eritrea since its beginning, is very happy that the judicial arbitration upon which the two parties have agreed resolved this issue.

Amr Moussa also said this international arbitration is an example that several problems is the region should follow, adding that he has congratulated the Yemen foreign minister on this outcome, hailing the Eritrea reaction within this frame on which good relations between Yemen and Eritrea can be established through Middle East and African Horn.

The ruling was taken Friday by the London-based International Court of Arbitration.

Map reported that Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Iryani described the international arbitration decision to restore the Red Sea Hanish islands to Yemen's sovereignty as a momentous victory for Yemeni and Arab diplomacy.

In December 1995, the Red Sea navigation movement was at stake following the flare-up of an acute crisis between Yemen and Eritrea, with growing fears of a large-scale military confrontation.

In mid-December, the Eritrean troops captured the three Red Sea islands of Hanish after a war of word with Yemen in which both countries claimed sovereignty over the strategic islands.

After a diplomatic drive, Yemen and Eritrea accepted international arbitration to decide the ownership of the islands.

Eventually, the two countries signed an agreement in Paris in May 1996 under which they accepted taking the case to the International Court of Arbitration.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled Friday that the disputed islands in the Red Sea were partly the sovereign territory of Yemen and partly the sovereign territory of Eritrea.

The arbitration decision will be implemented within 90 days. In a statement issued from its Hague registry, the tribunal awarded Eritrea the Mohabbakah islands, some of the Haycock Islands and the South West Rocks. Yemen gained sovereignty of the Zuqar-Hanish group, the island of Jaba al-Tayr and the Zubayr group.