Nicaragua Asks World Court to Hear Case
Nicaragua on Friday pleaded to the International Court of Justice to hear its case suing Colombia for ownership of a string of Caribbean islands, capping a week of jurisdictional hearings.

If the U.N.'s highest court, known as the world court, agrees to hear the fight over the San Andres Archipelago - and the right to drill for oil in its waters - it would be the next step in a legal process likely to last many years.

Arguing on behalf of Nicaragua, lawyer Alain Pellet pointed to the Bogota Pact, which designates the U.N. court as the final authority in irresolvable disputes between Latin American countries.

But Colombia says there is no dispute, since it has owned and occupied the islands since they were ceded to it by treaty in 1928.

"By instituting these proceedings, Nicaragua is seeking to reopen a matter which has long been settled," Colombia argued in written submissions to the Hague-based court.

Pellet argued that objection was not jurisdictional but rather asking the court to rule on the heart of the case.

Nicaragua claims the islands belong to it, because they were improperly ceded to Colombia in the treaty in 1928, a period in which the country was under U.S. military occupation.

The country's diplomats were "forced to conclude an agreement ... which gave them what they already possessed, the Mosquito Coast, in exchange for what (also) belonged to them, the San Andres archipelago, so as to allow a reconciliation between the United States of America and Colombia," Pellet said.

The islands are 480 miles northwest of Colombia and 140 miles off the coast of Nicaragua.

In 2003, Nicaragua invited oil companies to drill for oil in waters near the archipelago, which drew the ire of Colombian officials who believed such drilling would take place in their jurisdiction.

The International Court of Justice only hears disputes between U.N. member states, not criminal cases against individuals.