Argentina takes Falklands case to UN

United Nations: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope that Argentina and Britain can avoid an escalation of their Falkland Islands dispute when he met Friday with the South American country’s foreign minister, Hector Timerman, the U.N. chief’s office said. Ban “expressed concern about the increasingly strong exchanges” between the two governments and said the U.N. would be happy to help mediate the dispute if asked, according to a summary of the meeting by the secretary-general’s office. “I come to the United Nations to denounce Great Britain for the militarization of the South Atlantic,” Timerman said in a video made after his meeting with Ban and posted on the Argentine Presidency’s web site. “Great Britain at this moment is the most important military power in this zone.” [caption id=“attachment_210052” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, left, meets with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. AP”] [/caption] Timerman said he raised the subject of nuclear arms during his meeting with Ban. Britain’s navy has 11 nuclear-powered submarines, seven armed with conventional weapons, including Tomahawk missiles, and four that carry Trident nuclear missiles, which can deliver warheads more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers). Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper reported the U.K. had deployed a Trafalgar-class submarine, armed only with conventional weapons, to the South Atlantic. The country’s defense ministry has declined to comment. Argentina and Britain fought a war over the islands in 1982. With the approach of the 30th anniversary of that conflict on April 2, tensions have risen between the countries over the status of the territory off the Argentine coast in the South Atlantic Ocean. The islands, which are a British dependency, are also claimed by Argentina, which refers to them as Las Malvinas. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez earlier said her country would formally complain to the U.N. Security Council that Britain has created a serious security risk by sending one of its most modern warships to the region. The British government said it recently sent destroyer HMS Dauntless to replace another ship in a routine operation. Britain’s Foreign Office has repeatedly ruled out negotiations unless the Falklands’ inhabitants say they want change. Timerman also had meetings planned Friday with Togo’s Ambassador Kodjo Menan, who holds the rotating U.N. Security Council presidency, and Cuban Ambassador Pedro Nunez Mosquera, who heads the U.N. Decolonization Committee. Timerman is addressing the press in the afternoon. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant has scheduled his own news conference afterward. AP