The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Somalia, not Kenya, should control most of the triangle of water in the Indian Ocean over which Kenya has maintained sovereignty since 1979.
The area, measuring about 39,000 square miles, is believed to contain deposits of oil and gas and has been a source of tension between the two countries for years.
In her ruling, Judge Joan E. Donoghue, the ICJ president, dismissed Kenya’s argument that Somalia had already agreed to the maritime boundary claimed by Kenya.
Donoghue said the court determined that the boundary should run largely in the same direction as Somalia’s land border, with a slight adjustment, and rejected Kenya’s position that it should be along the latitudinal line at the border.
The ruling is legally binding, though the court has no enforcement powers.
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