Disputed Isle Belongs to Singapore - World Court

No larger than half a football field, the isle is called Pedra Branca by Singapore and Pulau Batu Puteh by Malaysia.

Singapore owns a rocky outcrop near a key shipping lane, the U.N.'s highest court ruled on Friday, settling a protracted territorial dispute between the south-east Asian state and its neighbour Malaysia.

The case could encourage other Asian governments to resolve decades-old maritime disputes in oil-rich waters.

The outcrop is located on the Singapore Strait, just off the Malacca Strait which carries 40 percent of the world's trade. No larger than half a football field, it is called Pedra Branca by Singapore and Pulau Batu Puteh by Malaysia.

The International Court of Justice ruled Malaysia has sovereignty of another nearby islet known as Middle Rocks and that a third, called South Ledge, belongs to the state in whose territorial waters it is located. "The court concludes ... that by 1980 sovereignty over Pedra Banca/Pulau Batu Puteh had passed to Singapore," Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh said in his ruling.

The court verdict does not totally resolve the dispute between the two countries as it only determines the ownership of the main islet but not where the maritime boundary is.

Malaysia and Singapore have a history of squabbling over issues ranging from water supplies to land reclamation and transport links since Singapore gained sovereignty from Malaysia in 1965.

The Court's rulings are final and cannot be appealed.