MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bielsa and Straw Meeting: An Exchange of Courtesies.

In an interview on Friday with Sue Gyford of the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station (FIBS), Acting Governor, Harriet Hall, described the recent meeting between British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw and his Argentine opposite number, Rafael Bielsa as “really just an exchange of courtesies”

The meeting, which was held at the United Nations in New York, on Wednesday, was prompted by the fact that Argentina is shortly to take its place as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. It is standard diplomatic procedure for representatives of permanent member countries, like Britain, to formally greet new members in this way, Miss Hall explained.

Although no word-for-word record of the meeting was available, the Acting Governor assured FIBS that the Secretary of State had reiterated the well-known British position on the sovereignty of the Falklands, stating that it would not be a subject for discussion with the Argentine Government, except at the request of Falkland Islanders themselves.

Asked by FIBS what discussion had taken place about the issue of flights between Argentina and the Falklands, which, it was reported, had been raised by Mr. Bielsa, Miss Hall stated that the meeting had been very short and there had not been time for any substantial discussion on any topic.

John Fowler (MP) Stanley