Nicaragua hoping to solve island dispute with Colombia
Nicaragua is hoping to solve a sovereignty dispute with Colombia over a string of Caribbean islands and reefs in a friendly manner, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos said on Monday, as an international court started hearings on the case.

Describing the dispute as a problem "between brother nations," Santos told reporters here "we are doing all we can to resolve the problem in a civilized way."

Colombia argues that the dispute over the San Andres and Providencia islands as well as some reefs was settled in 1928, when the two countries signed a treaty granting Colombia sovereignty over the islands.

But Nicaragua considers the treaty a U.S. payoff to Colombia for arranging the independence of Panama from Colombia in order to build the Panama Canal. Nicaragua was occupied and run by the U.S. military at that time.

Nicaragua brought the case to the International Courts of Justice (ICJ) on Dec. 6, 2001.

Colombia maintains that the court has no jurisdiction over the dispute.

The hearings started on Monday in The Hague and are expected to last until at least Friday. The ICJ rulings are binding without the right of appeal.