Ex-AG Anil heads committee on 'lost' territory over Chagos dispute

A special committee headed by Mohamed Anil, who served as the Attorney General during former President Abdulla Yameen's presidency, has been formed to recover the allegedly lost part of the Southern Economic Zone (SEZ) due to an international tribunal ruling on delimitation of the territorial waters between the Maldives and Chagos island.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) ruled on April 28 that the separation of the sea should start from the coast of the islands of the Chagos, as advocated by Maldives. With that, Maldives gained a larger part of the disputed territory as it was divided between the Maldives and Mauritius. 

ITLOS decided to divide the 92,563 square kilometers between the two countries:

However, the then opposition and now ruling PPM-PNC accused the state of giving up an important and large part of the southern economic zone.

With the PPM-PNC winning the September presidential election and assuming power on November 17, the new government's first 100-day pledges include regaining the allegedly lost territory. 

The President's Office issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the Attorney General's Office has been entrusted with the necessary steps to review the decision taken by ITLOS. The Attorney General's Office has now begun to study the decision and determine the next steps to be taken, the office said.

The Attorney General's Office has also begun to seek the advice of senior international experts on the legal position and actions taken by the then President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's government in this regard, the statement said.

A committee has been formed to accelerate the work and monitor the progress of the work.

The committee consists of:

Anil is providing his services pro bono, the statement added.

The documents available so far in this case are, according to the government:

The President's Office said copies of the documents have now been sent to the Attorney General's Office. The government has officially released the letter sent to the Prime Minister of Mauritius on August 22 last year.