DUBAI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Dubai Ports (DP) World said Friday that the government of Djibouti "illegally seized control" of the Doraleh Container Terminal S.A. from a DP World's owned entity.

Dubai Ports (DP) World, the world's third biggest commercial port operator in relation to assets, said in an e-mailed statement that this terminal located at the Horn of Africa is the largest employer and biggest source of revenue in Djibouti. "

It has operated at a profit every year since it opened," the company whose shares are traded on the Nasdaq Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), added.

"The illegal seizure of the Terminal is the culmination the government's campaign to force the DP World to renegotiate the terms of the concession," claimed DP World.

Those terms were found to be "fair and reasonable" by a London Court of International Arbitration tribunal led by Lord Leonard Hoffman and Sir Richard Aikens, both highly respected former English jurists, DP World explained.

DP World has commenced arbitration proceedings before the London Court of International Arbitration to protect their rights, or to secure "damages and compensation" for their "breach or expropriation."

Since December 2017, the government of Djibouti has sought to enforce the law against the concession contract entered into between DP World and Doraleh Container Terminal SA and the Government, related to the container terminal at Doraleh.

This effort culminated in a final demand that the contract be renegotiated by February 21, 2018, and the termination of that contract by Presidential Decree on February 22, 2018 and expropriation of all of the assets of Doraleh Container Terminal SA, the statement said.

DP World demands from the Djibouti government "to cease its unlawful conduct and continue to work as partners with us in the same spirit of cooperation that has been in place for the last 18 years," added the statement.

DP World has a 33 percent equity stake in the port of Doraleh (Djibouti) which has a capacity of 1.25 million TEU's.

DP World claimed that there will be no material financial impact to the group, which runs over 78 operating marine and inland terminals supported by over 50 related businesses in over 40 countries across six continents.