MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Leaders of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America urge Falkland's dialogue.

Leaders from Spain, Portugal and their former colonies in Latin America urged Britain and Argentina to renew their dialogue on the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas.

"The heads of state and government ... reaffirm the need for the governments of Argentina and Britain to resume as soon as possible negotiations aimed at achieving a swift solution to the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas islands," a special statement issued by the Ibero-American summit in Costa Rica's capital said.

The 1982 war over the Falklands, some 350 miles off the Argentine coast, left 649 Argentine and 255 British soldiers dead.

Argentina told a United Nations committee in June 2003 that its claim to the islands was a top priority and a month later Argentine President Nestor Kirchner told Prime Minister Tony Blair ( that the two countries should revive talks on the islands' status.