MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine dinghy mystery still unsolved.

The Falklands Governor Mr Donald Lamont has denied reports that weapons and explosives were found on board a small dingy ? capable of holding 3 people ? which was discovered on a beach near Salvador on East Falklands several days ago. The dingy which was powered by a small outboard motor, contained ration packs and food of Argentine origin, and Military style kit, but according to the Governor ?No Argentine flag was found'.

However it has been confirmed by Mrs Susan Morrison who with her husband Michael discovered the dinghy on the sand beach, that there was a camera found on board the dinghy.

The discovery of the dinghy by the Islander couple who were hiking, with a friend, in the Concordia Bay area of Salvador sheep farm, sparked a full scale combined British Military, Falklands Island Defence Force and civilian Police search, as the possibility that occupants of the dinghy may have come ashore on the Islands was not discounted. A Royal Air Force C130 aircraft was also used to patrol the surrounding sea area looking for bodies floating on the water or a vessel in distress, but nothing was found.

Governor Lamont confirmed that no-one ?dead or alive' has been found. He told Falklands radio on Tuesday that ?It was unlikely that had someone come ashore from the dinghy he would have left bags of food on board'. Medical supplies bearing the wording ?Manufactured in Argentina' and food with the words ?Industria Argentina' were found on board the dingy, which was recovered by British troops and taken to the British Military base at Mount Pleasant for forensic testing. Mr Lamont said that the whole episode remains a ?mystery'.

Asked if he thought that it was some sort of ?hoax' hatched up by Islanders in an attempt to test the reaction of the Forces and Police, he said that ?The cost of the kit found on board the dinghy rules that out'. He speculated that there may have been a problem with a ship passing the islands, but in liaison with Argentine Search & Rescue Net, no report of any such vessel had been received. Governor Lamont said that given the state of the items found on board it appeared as if the dingy had come ashore at Salvador between 1-4 weeks previously.

The search, which was called off, is unlikely to be resumed, said an officer of the Falkland Islands Defence Force.