| Pretty pic of HMS Dauntless at the link. |
Argentina has accused Britain of deploying nuclear weapons near the Falkland Islands and "militarising" the south Atlantic. The Argentinian foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, lodged a formal protest at the United Nations on Friday and showed slides of British military bases in the region, saying they represented a threat to all south America.
| Hector should get out of the sun... |
He said Buenos Aires had intelligence that a Vanguard submarine was operating in the area. "Thus far the UK refuses to say whether it is true or not," he told a press conference in New York. "Are there nuclear weapons or are there not? The information Argentina has is that there are these nuclear weapons."
| Must not be nuclear weapons there. If there were and you guys were sane, you'd be acting as if nuclear weapons were there... |
Quoting John Lennon, he added: "Give peace a chance."
Britain's ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said London did not comment on the disposition of nuclear weapons or submarines but that it was "manifestly absurd" to say it was militarising the region. Britain's defence posture remained unchanged, he said.
Timerman said such a nuclear-armed submarine would violate the Treaty of Tlatelolco for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean.
After receiving Timerman's protest the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, issued a statement expressing "concern" about the escalating row and reportedly offered to mediate.
| Anything, anything to be relevant... |
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