(AFP) — Britain is shelving its plan to hand back the Chagos Islands — which hosts the strategic Diego Garcia US-UK military base — according to a government spokesperson Saturday, following strong opposition from US President Donald Trump.
“We have always said we would only proceed with the deal if it has US support” the spokesman said in a statement, as reports said legislation to return the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius was due to run out of time in parliament.
Trump in January lashed out at what he called London’s “great stupidity” over the deal.
Last May’s Chagos agreement would have seen Britain hand the archipelago — some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) northeast of Mauritius — to its former colony and pay to lease Diego Garcia, the largest island, which is home to the military base, for a century.
“Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US. Ensuring its long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority – it is the entire reason for the deal,” the Downing Street spokesperson added.
“We are continuing to engage with the US and Mauritius.”
Trump had endorsed the deal after it was signed but then launched a scathing attack on it in Truth Social comments in January.
“The United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia… for no reason whatsover,” he said.
“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness,” he said, adding that it showed why the US needed to conquer Greenland from ally Denmark.
Diego Garcia was one of two bases which the UK allowed the US to use for what the British government insisted were “defensive operations” in its war against Iran.
Starmer has previously insisted that international legal rulings have put Britain’s ownership of the Chagos in doubt and only a deal with Mauritius would guarantee that the base remains functional.
Government officials cited by the BBC said the agreement was not being entirely abandoned.
But they said the legislation underpinning it would not pass before parliament is dissolved in coming weeks and a new Chagos bill is not expected to be put forward.
Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s.
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.
The deal would have given Britain a 99-year lease of the base, with the option to extend.
The UK government has not said how much the lease would cost but has failed to deny that it would be £90 million ($111 million) a year.
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