Obasanjo denies Bakassi promise

Obasanjo is facing re-election next year

President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria has denied pledging to respect a world court ruling on the disputed Bakassi peninsula.

He told the BBC's Sola Odunfa that he would never give a "blank cheque" by agreeing to respect a judgement without knowing which way it would go.

The [Cameroonian] gendarmes seize their boats, sieze their nets or remove the engines from their boats

BBC's Omer Songwe in Bakassi

Britain has called in the Nigerian High Commissioner to London to express its concern at Nigeria's rejection of a world court ruling awarding the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.

On Wedneday, Nigeria announced that it would not respect the International Court of Justice decision to award Bakassi to Cameroon, even though there is no mechanism for appealing against the ruling.

Both Cameroon and Nigeria have had thousands of troops stationed in the disputed region and there have been several clashes over the peninsula. Cameroon referred the dispute to The Hague in 1994.

Mystery man

Britain's minister for Africa, Baroness Amos, reminded Nigeria that the judgement, which ended an eight-year legal tussle, was binding on both parties.

The United Nations had previously said that both Mr Obasanjo and his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya, had agreed to respect the ICJ ruling, following a meeting with secretary general Kofi Annan.

Commenting on Nigeria's reaction, Cameroon's Information Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo told the BBC that his country believed in the United Nations system and was confident the rule of law would eventually prevail.

The BBC's Francis Ngwa Niba in Yaounde says that government officials are unwilling to comment further on the issue in President Biya's absence.

Mr Biya left Cameroon on 4 September to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York and he has not returned home since then.

The court ruling was based on colonial treaties between former rulers Britain, Germany and France.

But Nigeria said it was wrong for such treaties to be used to settle the borders of independent states.

In 1964, all African countries agreed to respect the colonial borders they inherited at independence.

'Respect the ruling'

Correspondents say it would be politically difficult for Mr Obasanjo to hand Bakassi over to Cameroon, as he is standing for re-election next year.

The Bakassi peninsula is in itself a swampy strip of land with little value, but its ownership has implications for fishing and oil rights offshore.

Bakassi has large oil reserves

The BBC's Omer Songwe has just visited the Cameroonian side of Bakassi and says that 95% of the people in the area are Nigerians.

"But they are ready to abide by the laws of Cameroon... and feel that the ruling of the ICJ should be respected," he said.

Some of the local fishermen are considering returning to Nigeria but are worried by the high rate of unemployment.

The Bakassi residents say they have seen their businesses suffer in recent years and complain of intimidation from Cameroon's military police.

"The [Cameroonian] gendarmes seize their boats, sieze their nets or remove the engines from their boats and leave them floating on the high sea," our correspondent said.