President Joyce
Banda has said that Malawi was giving up on mediation efforts and would take to
the courts to settle a long
dormant border dispute with Tanzania which has been re-activated by prospects
of an oil find.
"Our view
is that we should eventually go to court. We should not waste time on this
(mediation)," Banda told reporters in Lilongwe on Monday after returning
from visits to the US and Britain.
She said the
mediation bid left to Mozambique's ex-president Joachim Chissano in his
capacity as head of a forum of retired leaders from the regional bloc SADC, was
"compromised because information submitted by Malawi was leaked to
Tanzania".
She accused
the executive secretary of the forum, John Tesha, a Tanzanian national, for
leaking some vital information to his home country.
"After
surrendering our documents, we were told that they were leaked to Tanzania
before the Tanzanians surrendered theirs," Banda said.
"We feel
everything is compromised," she said. In December Banda said the dispute
had dragged for too long and she was considering taking it to the International
Court of Justice for arbitration.
At stake is a
largely undeveloped swathe of the lake where Malawi has awarded a licence to
British firm Surestream to explore for oil in the north-eastern waters near
Tanzania.
Malawi claims
ownership of the entire lake under an 1890 agreement, while Tanzania disputes
this validity, insisting part of the lake falls within its borders. Talks in
the past ended in a deadlock.
Source: Al
Jazeera.
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