Falklands : Argentine Territorial Claim Gets Short Sharp Shrift Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 24.01.2010 (Article Archived on 07.02.2010)
The Argentine law, Argentine Legislation (Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Britis passed in early December from an argentine point of view defines the borders of the southernmost Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the Southern Atlantic Islands, including within the region's borders the Falkland Islands, known as Las Malvinas in Spanish, and part of Antarctica.
ARGENTINE TERRITORIAL CLAIM GETS SHORT SHARP SHRIFT
By J. Brock (FINN)
The Argentine law, Argentine Legislation (Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Britis passed in early December from an argentine point of view defines the borders of the southernmost Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the Southern Atlantic Islands, including within the region's borders the Falkland Islands, known as Las Malvinas in Spanish, and part of Antarctica.
Long demanded by provincial authorities, the law means Argentine local government could try and collect royalties from oil companies with offshore operations that had previously levied by the Argentine federal government.
Conservative foreign policy spokesman David Lidington said in a statement. "They (the territories) are sovereign to the United Kingdom, and we condemn attempts by any foreign governments to assert otherwise,"
Argentina's YPF, the local unit of Spanish oil major Repsol, said last month it would explore for oil and natural gas in the Falkland Islands basin.
Gordon Brown rejected calls from Argentina for talks over the future sovereignty of the Falklands in March 2009 when he rejected the request for discussions at a meeting with the country's president, Christina Fernandez.
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