Argentina blasts
Britain's unwillingness
to discuss disputed
islands
Argentine President
Nestor Kirchner on
Tuesday described
Britain's unwillingness
to join sovereignty
talks over the Malvinas
Islands, known as the
Falkland Islands by
Britons, as
"incomprehensible,"
according to news
reaching here Tuesday.
In his speech to the
United Nations General
Assembly, Kirchner said
that the South American
archipelago has
completed 174 years of
what he called
"usurpation." "It is now
time for the United
Kingdom to put an end to
a colonial era
occupation and
anachronism," he said.
He strongly rejected
Britain's plan to extend
the control area of the
archipelago to 350
nautical miles, and
restated Argentina's
insistence on a swift
start of negotiations
over the return of the
archipelago, as
recommended by the UN
General Assembly.
The disputed islands,
located in the southern
Atlantic region near the
Argentine coast, were
occupied by British
forces in 1833.
Argentina fought a
74-day war with Britain
in 1982 over the
sovereignty of the
archipelago, leaving 649
Argentine and 255
British soldiers dead.
Britain later regained
control of the islands.
The two countries later
restored full diplomat |
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