Gabon claimed sovereignty over three islands in oil-rich waters Wednesday, telling the International Court of Justice the matter had already been settled by a 1974 treaty hotly disputed by Equatorial Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea asked judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday to reject Gabon's claim to several islands in potentially oil-rich waters in the Gulf of Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea asked judges at the International Court of Justice to reject Gabon's claim to several islands in potentially oil-rich waters in the Gulf of Guinea.

Gabon and Equatorial Guinea faced off on Monday at the International Court of Justice, hoping to resolve a decades-old scrap over the sovereignty of three disputed islands in potentially oil-rich waters.

The tiny island of Mbanié, located off Gabon's coast, has become the focal point of a legal dispute between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, currently being adjudicated at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.