Argentina accuses Britain of 'militarizing'
Source: Agencies |
February 9, 2012, Thursday
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ARGENTINA'S president accused Britain of "militarizing the South Atlantic" and said she would complain to the United Nations, as tension rises ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war.
Britain, which rejected the accusation, went to war with Argentina over the British-ruled Falkland Islands in 1982. London has refused to start talks on sovereignty with Argentina unless the roughly 3,000 islanders want them.
"They're militarizing the South Atlantic once again," President Cristina Fernandez said in a speech on Tuesday at the presidential palace, criticizing the deployment of British destroyer HMS Dauntless in the area in the coming months.
"If there's one thing we're going to preserve, besides our natural resources, is a region where peace prevails," she said, adding that the Foreign Ministry would present a formal complaint to the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
She also criticized Prince William's posting as a military search-and-rescue helicopter pilot in the islands - which are called Las Malvinas in Spanish.
"We would have liked to see him dressed as a civilian, not with a military uniform," she said.
A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron on yesterday rejected Fernandez's comments. "We are not militarizing the South Atlantic. Our defensive posture in the Falkland Islands remains unchanged," the spokeswoman said.
The defence ministry has described the deployment of HMS Dauntless as "entirely routine."
"The people of the Falklands choose to be British. Their right to self determination is a principle that's enshrined in the UN charter," she added.
A war of words between the two governments has escalated in recent months. Oil exploration by British companies off the islands has raised the stakes over the sovereignty dispute.
Britain, which rejected the accusation, went to war with Argentina over the British-ruled Falkland Islands in 1982. London has refused to start talks on sovereignty with Argentina unless the roughly 3,000 islanders want them.
"They're militarizing the South Atlantic once again," President Cristina Fernandez said in a speech on Tuesday at the presidential palace, criticizing the deployment of British destroyer HMS Dauntless in the area in the coming months.
"If there's one thing we're going to preserve, besides our natural resources, is a region where peace prevails," she said, adding that the Foreign Ministry would present a formal complaint to the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
She also criticized Prince William's posting as a military search-and-rescue helicopter pilot in the islands - which are called Las Malvinas in Spanish.
"We would have liked to see him dressed as a civilian, not with a military uniform," she said.
A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron on yesterday rejected Fernandez's comments. "We are not militarizing the South Atlantic. Our defensive posture in the Falkland Islands remains unchanged," the spokeswoman said.
The defence ministry has described the deployment of HMS Dauntless as "entirely routine."
"The people of the Falklands choose to be British. Their right to self determination is a principle that's enshrined in the UN charter," she added.
A war of words between the two governments has escalated in recent months. Oil exploration by British companies off the islands has raised the stakes over the sovereignty dispute.
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