MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Joint Argentine-British exercises

Britain and Argentine are to resume next year joint search and rescue exercises in the South Atlantic, following the fifth Round of Defense Cooperation Contacts and eleventh Military Contacts Meeting held in London two weeks ago.

Argentine Military Affairs Secretary, Fernando Maurette confirmed the news to the Argentine press speaking from Europe.

The joint Search and Rescue exercises that follow International Maritime Organization rules, will have their main operations base in Ushuaia and connect with Port Stanley in the Falklands.

The only joint exercise was held in November 1999, under the code name Millennium, over an area of 5,000 square miles and theoretically monitoring all the commercial and scientific maritime traffic in the South Atlantic.

Under the former president Fernando De la Rúa administration the joint exercises were suspended.

According to the Argentine press Mr. Maurette also requested his British counterpart and Members of Parliament in the Defense Committee that Argentina have access to spares and equipment from British industry, and "be deleted from the list of non reliable countries that includes among others, Iraq".

No further details were given besides the fact that Mr. Maurette concluded his round of talks "feeling optimistic".

The Buenos Aires press adds that the Argentine Military Affairs Secretary also took advantage of the meetings in London to talk with Members of Parliament, "who are very concerned about the Argentine situation", and explained the constitutional and Congressional procedure to name President Eduardo Duhalde, plus the 14 points agreement with the provincial governors that should help a better understanding with the International Monetary Fund over the possibility of much needed financial aid for the country.

The Argentine press also revealed that for the first time ever the Argentine Air Force received technical salvage and survival assistance from the Royal Air Force. Flight Captain Sean Gill was the instructor who spent a week in the III Air Brigade in Reconquista, where most of the aircraft are Pucará.