Falkland islanders hold ceremony marking end of war
- 12 years ago
Rough Cut (no reporter narration)
STORY: British Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne joined local officials and war veterans at a Falkland Islands' cemetery for fallen soldiers on Wednesday, a day before the 30th anniversary of the end of the conflict with Argentina.
Argentina invaded the islands on April 2, 1982 but were expelled by British forces after a 10-week war that killed around 650 Argentines and 255 British soldiers.
Tensions between the two nations have escalated in the year of the 30th anniversary of the conflict as British companies have started to look for oil in the region.
London has controlled the islands, about 300 miles (483 kilometers) off the southern Argentine coast, since 1833. In 1982, Britain sent a naval force and thousands of troops to reclaim the islands after Argentine forces occupied them.
Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez has launched a wide-ranging diplomatic offensive to assert her country's claims to the islands, known in Spanish as Las Malvinas. She accuses Britain of maintaining "colonial enclaves" and has called on London to open sovereignty talks.
The British government has consistently refused to discuss sovereignty so long as the 3,000 islanders want to stay British.
STORY: British Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne joined local officials and war veterans at a Falkland Islands' cemetery for fallen soldiers on Wednesday, a day before the 30th anniversary of the end of the conflict with Argentina.
Argentina invaded the islands on April 2, 1982 but were expelled by British forces after a 10-week war that killed around 650 Argentines and 255 British soldiers.
Tensions between the two nations have escalated in the year of the 30th anniversary of the conflict as British companies have started to look for oil in the region.
London has controlled the islands, about 300 miles (483 kilometers) off the southern Argentine coast, since 1833. In 1982, Britain sent a naval force and thousands of troops to reclaim the islands after Argentine forces occupied them.
Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez has launched a wide-ranging diplomatic offensive to assert her country's claims to the islands, known in Spanish as Las Malvinas. She accuses Britain of maintaining "colonial enclaves" and has called on London to open sovereignty talks.
The British government has consistently refused to discuss sovereignty so long as the 3,000 islanders want to stay British.