Portugal Colonial - UK court orders last-minute review of Chagos Islands deal

"There was an urgent hearing overnight, and an injunction has been granted until 10:30 am (0930 GMT) today when there will be a further hearing", a court official told AFP.

UK media reports had said Prime Minister Keir Starmer was due to attend a virtual ceremony with Mauritian representatives early Thursday to sign the deal.

The agreement would see Britain hand back the archipelago to Mauritius and pay to lease a key US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island.

In the injunction, granted at 2:25 am (0125 GMT), Judge Julian Goose said the government should "take no conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government".

The government was required to "maintain the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom over the British Indian Ocean Territory until further order", the ruling added.

The request for an injunction was brought by two Chagossian women, the BBC reported.

The base is leased to the United States and has become one of its key military facilities in the Asia-Pacific, including being used as a hub for long-range bombers and ships during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But Starmer has said that international legal rulings have put Britain's ownership of the Chagos in doubt and only a deal with Mauritius can guarantee that the base remains functional.

Reacting to the ruling, a UK government spokesperson said it did not comment on "ongoing legal cases".

"The deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security," the spokesperson told AFP.

Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s.

But it evicted thousands of Chagos islanders who have since mounted a series of legal claims for compensation in British courts.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that Britain hand the archipelago to Mauritius after decades of legal battles.

The deal would give Britain a 99-year lease of the base, with the option to extend.

The UK government has not said how much the lease will cost, but has not denied reports that it would be £90 million ($111 million) a year.

Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam has said his country would pursue its fight for full sovereignty over the islands if Washington refused to support the return.

G.Machado--PC