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Timor Leste, Australia open talks on maritime border dispute

East Timor and Australia have begun conciliation talks in their bitter legal battle to set a permanent maritime boundary that will carve up billions of dollars in oil and gas reserves underneath the seabed.

(Associated Press)

The Hague

Mon, August 29, 2016 Published on Aug. 29, 2016 Published on 2016-08-29T18:26:35+07:00

Timor Leste, Australia open talks on maritime border dispute

A map shows the territorial water between Australia and Timor Leste. (kompas.com/-)

T

imor Leste and Australia have begun conciliation talks in their bitter legal battle to set a permanent maritime boundary that will carve up billions of dollars in oil and gas reserves underneath the seabed.

Speaking Monday at a hearing in the Netherlands, Timor Leste's former leader Xanana Gusmao told a panel of five experts, "We have not come to The Hague to ask for favors or special treatment. We have come to seek our rights under international law."

The long-running dispute has deeply scarred relations between wealthy Australia and its tiny, impoverished northern neighbor.

Australia was to make its presentation later. The government in Canberra argues that the Hague-based panel does not have jurisdiction to set the border and that Australia is committed to upholding existing treaties between the two countries.