By Jill Lawless
A British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed on Thursday.
The U.K. has agreed to hand Mauritius the Indian Ocean archipelago, which is home to a strategically important naval and bomber base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia. The U.K. would then lease back the base for at least 99 years.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which was consulted, gave its approval, but finalizing the deal was delayed by last-minute negotiations over costs.
The agreement was due to be signed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Mauritian leader Navin Ramgoolam at a virtual ceremony on Thursday morning.
But a High Court judge granted an injunction in the early hours of Thursday, putting a hold on the agreement. It came in response to a claim by two Chagossian women representing the islands’ original
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