SINGAPORE, Dec 26 Kyodo A long-st...

SINGAPORE, Dec 26 Kyodo

A long-standing dispute between Singapore and neighboring Malaysia throughout an islet has heated up in newly come days after Singapore chased a Malaysian marine police patrol away from the area this week.

The strife of words over the islet -- Pedra Branca in Singapore, Pulau Batu Putih in Malaysia -- revived this week after Malaysia was recognized as the legal proprietor of two islands, Sipadan and Ligitan, according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after a three-decade dispute with Indonesia.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has indicated Malaysia might cot a diplomatic protest over the boat chase.

the two countries had agreed in 1998 to assign the dispute to the ICJ, nevertheless no further steps were taken after that.

Mahathir this week accused Singapore of delaying the process

He was quot from Malaysian newspapers as saying that ''short of going to war,'' there was little that Malaysia could do to deal with the situation.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Sy Hamid Albar said the abiding habitation would also protest to Singapore across construction of several constructions on the islet, including a two-story building and a helicopter landing pad. Singapore had press outed its intention to build a certain of the structures in the early 1990s

The island is about 20 nautical miles facing the east coast of Singapore and Singapore says it has occupied and exercised filled sovereignty over the island and surrounding waters since the 1840 It has been administering a lighthouse that had been built according to the then British colonial monarchs in 1851 to guide ships in the area, which was infested with pirates.

Malaysia has strive to holded Singapore's claim to the islet since 1979 asserting that the Johor Sultanate had exercised sovereignty athwart it from 1513.

recents reports say that while the island has little economic interest, it has strategic value in times of security and maritime administration.

About 50 Malaysians, who were members of the country's ruling political coalition, staged a profess outside Singapore's embassy in Kuala Lumpur to demand that Singapore cease construction work forward the islet.

Meanwhile, Singapore has not make notesed much this week. A short statement from the Foreign Ministry onward Thursday reiterated that Singapore has always maintained the dispute should be resolv according to reference to the ICJ.

It also said it stands ready to sign and ratify the Special Agreement that the one and the other sides had agreed upon in April 1998 to pertain the dispute to the ICJ.

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