UNITED NATIONS, Sept 17, 2008 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon has appointed Nicolas Michel of Switzerland as his special adviser and mediator in the border dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, his press office said Wednesday.

Michel, who served as UN undersecretary general for legal affairs from August 2005 to September 2008, 'will bring a distinguished career combining diplomatic and legal skills as well as recognized impartiality and commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes.'

Gabon and Equatorial Guinea have been at loggerheads over potentially oil-rich the disputed islands in the Gulf of Guinea since the 1970s.

Last June, Ban opened high-level talks between the two neighbors here in the next phase of the UN mediation.

Gabon and Equatorial Guinea have tussled for years over of the islands of Mbanie, Cocotiers and Conga, located between the two countries' coasts in Corisco Bay. Mbanie measures 30 hectares (75 acres), while Cocotiers and Conga are tiny rocky outcrops.

Corisco Bay is tipped as a new oil Eldorado, which has raised the stakes for the two countries already riding on a black gold boom.