* Says area was created in violation of U.N. conventions
* Lease on island expires in 2016
By Jean Paul Arouff
PORT LOUIS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Mauritius plans to contest the legality of a new marine park around the disputed Chagos islands before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Indian Ocean islands' prime minister said on Tuesday.
Britain leased the archipelago's biggest island, Diego Garcia, to the United States in 1966, paving the way for the construction of a huge airbase which required the forced removal in the 1960s and 1970s of some 2,000 Chagossians.
The displaced islanders have waged a long legal battle for the right to return. In early December, Mauritius said it planned to summon Britain's top diplomat in the country after a leaked U.S. cable suggested the park was a ploy to stop uprooted islanders returning home.
"The marine protected area was created in violation of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is not compatible with the rights of Chagossians," Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam told a news conference.
He said a statement of claim had been sent to British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
"Mauritius requests the arbitral tribunal to declare ... that, in respect of the Chagos Archipelago, the Marine Protected Area is not compatible with the 1982 Convention, and is without legal effect," he said.
Britain gave the green light to what is now the world's biggest maritime reserve in April, in a move praised by environmentalists. [ID:nLDE6301QN]
Diego Garcia became an important base for the United States during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, acting as a launch pad for long-range bombers.
The U.S.-British lease for Diego Garcia expires in 2016. (Editing by George Obulutsa and Mark Trevelyan)
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