World court bars Costa Rica from Caribbean spat

The International Court of Justice has refused to let Costa Rica intervene in a legal dispute between Nicaragua and Colombia over the countries' maritime border in the Caribbean.

Costa Rica applied to join the case last year, saying the area of Carib-bean under dispute between Nica-ragua and Colombia also covered part of its maritime territory.

The United Nations' highest judicial organ, also known as the world court, ruled Wednesday that Costa Rica did not need to get involved because the court's rules guarantee that it will not cut into Costa Rican Caribbean territory when setting a maritime border between Nicaragua and Colombia.

Later Wednesday, the court is ruling on a similar application by Honduras to join the Nicaragua-Colombia dispute.

- AP