Mauritius makes claim to Chagos islands

from The Southern Times

Port Louis (Mauritius) — Mauritius would like Britain to recognise the sovereignty of Mauritius on all the 65 islands of Chagos archipelago, officials said on Wednesday.

The officials from the Mauritius State Law Office said this in Mauritian capital Port Louis after returning from London where they meet with officials of the British Foreign Office

The officials were invited by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to hold a series of discussions on the question of the sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago.

Britain took control of the Chagos archipelago in 1965 prior to the independence of Mauritius in March 1968.

The islands were then rented to the Americans who now have an air force base there. The population was deported to Mauritius and Seychelles.

The Mauritian officials said the talks with the British officials were relatively "positive" but that there is still a long way to go to find a common language.

The Mauritian lawyers told the British officials that it is not a problem for the Mauritian government that the American military has a huge air force base on the main island of Diego Garcia.

They pointed out that there are still 65 more islands in the archipelago, including Peros Banhos and Salomon.

They told British officials that their arguments that the resettlement of the islands by the Chagossian population may cause a security problem were not serious.

They said even two law lords of the British House of Lords have considered the British assertion as "highly imaginative".