The President’s Office, on Tuesday, revealed the government has hired two foreign experts to appeal the decision by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in the maritime dispute between Maldives and Mauritius.

Appealing the ITLOS decision is one of the 100 day pledges of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

Under the pledge, a special committee has been formed to study the issue and villainous the work. The committee will be headed by former Attorney General Mohammed Anil. The committee will be headed by Colonel Ahmed Mujtaba on behalf of the Defense Ministry and Secretary Multilateral Ahmed Shian on behalf of the Foreign Ministry.

Speaking at a press conference at the President’s Office on Tuesday to brief on the latest updates on cabinet decisions – Principal Secretary to the President on Public Policy Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim identified the foreign expertise hired for the appeal as a King’s Counsel from the UK and a professor of law of the sea from Malta.

“The Maltese professor will travel to the Maldives very soon. The professor’s report will be submitted to the president, the cabinet mid-this month. UK’s report will be submitted to the cabinet in February,” Nazim said.

“The final report formulated based on the reports of the experts will be submitted to the cabinet in late February,” he added.

The government, in a previous statement, said that the documents received with respect to the case so far included former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to the Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth dates August 22, 2022. The letter was disclosed by the government alongside the statement.