MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Hundreds of former Malvinas servicemen arrive in Ushuaia for 2 April Commemorations.

Hundreds of former Argentine servicemen who took part in the 1982 South Atlantic War have started arriving in the southernmost city of the world, Ushuaia, for the main ceremony to mark the twentieth anniversary of the outbreak of conflict.

The main assembly to mark the anniversary are to be held here on Tuesday. President Eduardo Duhalde is expected in town on that day to head the commemorations in which the beginning of the 1982 conflict with Britain and the 648 Argentine soldiers killed during the war will be remembered.

Up to 3.000 of the 12.000 veterans, mainly former conscripts of the 1982 war, coming from all provinces of Argentina, are expected to arrive in Ushuaia by April 2, in order to pay tribute to their former colleagues killed during the conflict. The South Atlantic War broke out on 2 April when an Argentine military force seized Port Stanley expelling the British governor and Royal Marine force and holding control of the islands for 74 days. Duhalde, who will accompanied by the Governor of Tierra del Fuego, Carlos Manfredotti and the President of the Veterans Federation, Hector Beiroa, among others.

The veterans will be presented with a Medal of Honour commemorating their participation in the 1982 South Atlantic War. Duhalde will unveil a plaque and give the keynote speech at the rally before returning to Buenos Aires to take part in War Veteran's Day in this city.

Activities to mark Veteran's Day in Buenos Aires include a ceremony at the Patricios Regiment and a gala concert at the Colon Theatre to collect funds for the monument to Argentine servicemen killed during the conflict which is to be constructed at Darwin Cemetery on the islands.

The commemorations in the southernmost town of the world will start at 10:30 am at the Malvinas Islands Square where a monument to the Argentine soldiers of this war stands on the shores of the Beagle Channel. The veterans will march to the square carrying an Argentine flag measuring two thousands meters. The veterans will later march along the streets of the capital of Tierra del Fuego, the province to which the Malvinas Islands administratively belongs under Argentine law.

To reach Ushuaia, the Veterans Centre organised caravans of vehicles coming from all parts of the country, which will first converge in the southern city of Comodoro Rivadavia before moving off as a convoy down Highway Nº 3 towards Ushuaia. As the convoy made up buses, vans, cars and trucks travels th