MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pro-Argentine Professor gets new post at Chatham House .

The new Director of Britain's prestigious Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, is Professor Victor Bulmer-Thomas, who succeeded Dr. Chris Gamble, on April 23.

Professor Bulmer- Thomas is well-known to Falkland Islands Councillors for his outspoken advocacy of closer co-operation with Argentina and criticism of the Islanders' past resistance to negotiations. He is a prominent member of the South Atlantic Council which promotes discussions on the Falkland Islands in a series of Argentine-British Conferences actively supported by Chatham House.

Former Falklands Governor, Sir Rex Hunt, recently had a meeting at Chatham House to make representations as Chairman of the Falkland Islands Association that ABC conferences should more fairly represent Falkland Islands' views.

Long before the 1999 Anglo-Argentine July 14th Agreement ending the general ban on Argentine visits to the Falklands and establishing a direct air link, Professor Bulmer-Thomas was calling for such "appeasing gestures" to Argentina in response to former Foreign Minister Dr Di Tella's "charm offensive". In 1996, the Professor was quoted as saying "Anglo-Argentine relations are, to some extent, being held hostage to the wishes of two-thousand Islanders".

Argentina's patience, he said, was in danger of running out. It might continue to refuse to sign a long-term fishing agreement and use the threat of over-fishing as a bargaining chip potentially devastating to Falklands' vital squid fishing revenues. He also argued for acceptance of Argentina's offer to help clear landmines left by its forces in the 1982 conflict.

Professor Bulmer- Thomas, 52, with degrees from Oxford, is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of London and was Director of the University's Institute of Latin American Studies from 1992 to 1998 during which time it developed into one of Europe's leading institutes. The Professor has worked as a consultant for the European Commission, the US Agency for International Development and the Inter-American Development Bank, and advised a number of multi-national corporations. Married with three children, he was awarded the OBE in 1998 and holds honours from Brazil and Colombia.

Chatham House issued a statement welcoming his expertise and experience. "In an increasingly global society", it said, "Chatham House has an important role to play in promoting international l