TRIBUNAL TO MEDIATE IN AUSTRALIA, EAST TIMOR BORDER ROW

THE HAGUE • An international arbitration court agreed yesterday to take up a decade-old maritime dispute between Australia and East Timor over a border cutting through lucrative oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) "held that it was competent to continue with the arbitration process" initiated by East Timor against Canberra in April, the court in The Hague said in a statement.

East Timor last month urged the panel - the world's oldest arbitration tribunal - to help end the dispute, saying negotiations have so far failed. Australia in return argued it had no jurisdiction in the battle as Canberra had already signed a treaty with Dili ruling out recourse to the court. Australia has resisted negotiating a permanent border until 2056 at the earliest.

Straits Times