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IPFS News Link • World News

Argentina calls for flights to Falklands

• Aljazeera
 

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has sought negotiations with the United Kingdom to establish several weekly flights from Buenos Aires to the Falkland Islands.

Thursday's calls for negotiations have been met with scepticism from the Falklands government.

Roger Edwards, the British-controlled islands' legislative chairman, said direct flights from the Argentinian capital were "about as likely as the Falklands Air Service landing flights on the moon".

Fernandez told Argentine legislators that direct flights by the state-owned airline Aerolineas Argentinas would show the world her country's intentions towards the islands, known as las Malvinas in Argentina, were peaceful

The announcement comes amid growing tensions as Argentina and the UK prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of their brief war over the islands following an Argentine invasion.

Fernandez said the islands had become "a regional, American and global cause ... that is necessary to address with much seriousness".

She also condemned what she called the "stubborn, incomprehensible refusal'' of the UK to negotiate over the sovereignty of the Falklands.
 
The UK, which has controlled the islands since 1833, insists that it will not negotiate over the islands as long as its residents want to remain British.


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