Argentina raps Britain over islands

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:13:59 GMT Argentina's Foreign Ministry has protested against the UK for approving a new constitution for a disputed South Atlantic archipelago.  The islands are claimed as an overseas territory by both the United Kingdom and Argentina, with the corresponding names of Falkland Islands and Malvinas in Spanish.   The territorial dispute sparked a 73-day war between the two countries in 1982, leaving some 900 people dead.  On Wednesday, Britain and Falkland Islands approved a new constitution for the government of the South Atlantic archipelago after four decades, a move that angered Argentine.  While it formally allows Falkland Islands to self-govern, it is the British-appointed governor who has final say in many crucial matters including foreign policy, policing and the administration of justice.  Falkland Islands' government said the relationship between locally elected officials and the governor was made more transparent through the new constitution, which succeeds one signed back in 1985.  Buenos Aires on Thursday dubbed the action as a 'violation of Argentine sovereignty and international law'.  "This British unilateral act mainly constitutes a new and open violation of the 31/49 Resolution taken in 1976 by the UN General Assembly, which urges both parties in dispute to abstain from taking decisions to introduce unilateral decisions," said the foreign ministry.  “The sole objective being pursued by the United Kingdom in approving what it calls reforms is to perpetuate an anachronistic colonial situation,'' Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said.  ZHD/DT Original source at PressTV