MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Falklands Councillor extends welcome to Argentine next-of-kin group.
“This country has always welcomed next-of-kin, both from Argentina and the United Kingdom, so I hope that we will respect and welcome them when they come”.
Speaking during the Motion for Adjournment, at the end of Friday's meeting of the Falkland Islands Legislative Council, Councillor Mike Summers was referring to the recent announcement that 24 members of the Commission of families of the Argentine fatalities during the 1982 conflict would be visiting the Islands in March to officially open the Argentine War memorial, completed a year ago.
This news was confirmed by Falkland Islands Governor, Howard Pearce, later in the day, in a recorded interview with Corina Bishop of the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station.
The group, which will include a priest and an interpreter, will arrive in the Islands on March 12th and leave on March 19th on the weekly scheduled LAN flight from Chile. They will board and leave this flight in Rio Gallegos, Argentina, taking advantage of the twice-monthly stops there, which were agreed as part of the July 1999 Declaration between the British and Argentine governments, specifically to facilitate such visits by next-of-kin.
Governor Pearce confirmed that no Argentine political figures were expected to be present for the dedication ceremony, planned for March 16th, though he said that he understood that Eduardo Eurnekian, the Argentine businessman largely responsible for funding the memorial would attend and would arrive in his own aircraft.
During the week-long visit, Governor Pearce said that he believed the Families Commission group would be talking to some local businesses, with a view to arranging the long-term maintenance of the memorial to ensure that it would be kept in good condition.
John Fowler (MP) Stanley
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