Djibouti rejects court ruling over handing terminal to DP World

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Djibouti has publicly rejected the ruling of a UK court that requires the country to hand back control of a container terminal to Dubai-based port operator DP World.

Last week, The London Court of International Arbitration ordered Djibouti to restore DP World’s rights to run the Doraleh terminal, in accordance with a 25-year-long agreement that was signed in 2004. However, Djibouti’s government has rejected the ruling in a statement as the dispute continues, more than two years after authorities in Djibouti seized the port from DP World.

Djibouti rejects court ruling over disputed port

“This ruling comes as no surprise,” Djibouti’s government said in a statement. “It is the outcome of the iniquitous provisions of the concession, which could force a state to set aside and disregard its own law, to revive a concession that was terminated on the grounds of the higher interest of the Djiboutian nation.”

DP World released a statement of its own, expressing its will for “all parties to abide by the court’s ruling.”

The company says it has lost more than $1 billion in business since the Doraleh terminal was seized by authorities in Djibouti.

Featured image: By Skilla1st – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49404679

About Aaron Brooks

Aaron Brooks is a UK journalist who wants to cut out the international agendas in news. Spending his early years in both England and Northern Ireland he saw the difference between reality and media coverage at an early age. After graduating from the University of Chester with a BA in journalism, his travels revealed just how large the gap between news and the real world can be. As Editor-in-Chief at East Africa Monitor, it’s his job to provide a balanced view of what’s going on in the region for English-speaking audiences.