Argentina accuses Britain of sending nuclear missiles to Falklands
Posted by pooja at 5:28 AM
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Translation by Autumnson Blog
Argentina has stepped up its sabre-rattling rhetoric over the Falkland Islands by accusing Britain of sending nuclear missiles to the South Atlantic.
阿根廷已就福島加強其武力恫嚇言論，指責英國發送核導彈往南大西洋。
英國被指控以潛艇發送三叉戟導彈到南大西洋。
The South American country's foreign minister claimed that Trident nuclear missiles were being carried on board a submarine deployed to the region by the Royal Navy.
該南美國家的外長聲稱，三叉戟核導彈被携潛艇上由皇家海軍部署到該地區。
It comes as tensions continue to rise over the islands, which are claimed by the Argentinians as their territory.
它出現為繼續上升的緊張局勢，就該些島嶼阿根廷人聲稱為其領土。
The allegation was immediately rebuffed by a senior British diplomat, who also described claims by the Argentinians that military bases on the island could be used to launch attacks on South America as "absurd".
Hector Timerman, the Argentinian foreign minister, accused the British of sending the nuclear submarine into a nuclear-free zone and lodged a formal protest at the United Nations.
He said Britain was "militarising the region" after the Royal Navy sent one of its most advanced warship to the islands, and as Prince William enters the second week of his six-week tour of duty there as an RAF search and rescue pilot.
The Royal Navy has not confirmed the presence of any submarine near the Falklands, but was reported to have sent a Trafalgar-class vessel, which cannot carry nuclear weapons.
Mr Timerman, however, insisted that a Vanguard-class submarine, which carries Trident nuclear missiles, was operating in the region.
He produced maps and photographs to back up his claims, stating that the nuclear submarine posed a threat to regional security.
"Argentina has information that within the framework of the recent British deployment in the Malvinas Islands they sent a nuclear submarine ... to transport nuclear weapons to the South Atlantic," said Mr Timerman, at a press conference in New York.
"Thus far the UK refuses to say whether it is true or not. Are there nuclear weapons or are there not?
"The information Argentina has is that there are these nuclear weapons."
He said the deployment of nuclear arms in the region would violate the Treaty of Tlatelolco for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, designed to create a nuclear-free zone in the region.
The inflammatory claim appeared to be part of an aggressive attempt by Buenos Aires to isolate Britain at the United Nations in advance of the thirtieth anniversary of the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands and their successful recapture by a British task force.
Mr Timerman displayed a map showing UK bases across the South Atlantic between South America and Africa, pointing out that the "Empire's capital" was 4,000 miles away.
He went on to show a series of photographs of what he claimed were state-of-the-art war ships, planes and a nuclear submarine he said was Vanguard, flagship of the Vanguard fleet which carries Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent.
He also produced aerial shots of military bases and two runways in the Falkland Islands. The foreign minister also claimed that the British defence budget had been cut in every area except the South Atlantic.
Mr Timerman said Britain was using an "unjustified defence of self-determination" to maintain a military base on the Falklands, which allowed it to dominate the Atlantic.
He criticised David Cameron for recently accusing Argentina of acting like “colonialists,” saying: "It is perhaps the last refuge of a declining power.
"It is the last ocean that is controlled by the United Kingdom – Britannia rules only the South Atlantic.
“Argentina cannot lose a territory because there is a group . that chooses to live a different fate. This population came after the invasion. This is not an indigenous population.
"The UK is using the unjust defence of self-determination for 2,500 inhabitants as an excuse to become a military base."
Quoting John Lennon, who he described as the great musician, poet singer, he urged the British Government to "give peace a chance."
But the claims were dismissed by the British ambassador to the United Nations at his own press conference in New York.
Sir Mark Lyall Grant said "We do not comment on the disposition of nuclear weapons, submarines."
"I don't know how he knows about submarines. I certainly don't know. The whole point of nuclear submarines is that they go all around the world and you don't know where they are. That's why they're a deterrent."
Sir Mark described the idea that the UK was "militarising" the situation "manifestly absurd".
"Before 1982 there was a minimal defence presence in the Falkland Islands," he said.
"It is only because Argentina illegally invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982 that since then we had to increase our defence posture.
"Nothing has changed in that defence posture in recent months or recent years."
Sir Mark said the UK had been in the Falklands since before Argentina existed, and the islanders were entitled to self-determination under the UN charter.
"We are responsible for the security of the Falkland Islands and we will defend that robustly,” he said.
“Nothing has changed in our defence posture in recent months or recent years.
“The only thing that appears to have changed is the politics in Argentina.”
Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner has ramped up her rhetoric over the Falklands in recent weeks and is preparing for a re-election campaign, leading to claims she is trying to exploit the issue for her own political gain.
The Argentinian accusations of nuclear force came despite a plea from Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, to both countries to avoid an “escalation".
Before meeting Mr Timerman, the UN secretary-general’s office issued a statement in which he "expressed the hope that the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom will avoid an escalation of this dispute and resolve differences peacefully and through dialogue".
Britain insists that current military operations in the Falklands, including the presence of Prince William as part of an RAF search and rescue mission and the deployment of the Royal Navy destroyer Dauntless to the region, are "entirely routine".
Argentina has made much of Prince William’s presence on the islands, with one government official comparing him to a "conquistador".
Tensions over the Falklands – which Argentina refer to as Las Malvinas – have been further fuelled by the discovery of possible oilfields in its territorial waters.
And the debate became increasingly heated in recent days after Mrs Kirchner gave a speech in which she claimed that UK "militarism … implies a grave risk for international security …"
Sir Mark said: “It is not for Argentina and the UK to discuss the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands over the heads of the people who live there, some of whom have been there for over 200 years.”
http://refreshingnews9.blogspot.in/2012/02/argentina-accuses-britain-of-sending.html
英國就福克蘭群島警告南美眾國
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