MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands' case before C24; Taiana meets Annan

Argentina formally requested on Wednesday from United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan the renewal of his “good offices” for the resumption of the Malvinas/Falkland islands sovereignty dialogue with the United Kingdom.

"Twenty four years have gone by since the end of the war and the provisional agreements reached with the UK, unfortunately have not helped to outline the path", said Argentine Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Taiana following his meeting with Annan in New York.

Mr. Taiana is scheduled to address Thursday mid day the UN Decolonisation Committee or C24 when he will insist in Argentina's sovereignty claims over the Falklands, South Georgia and South Sandwich islands and London's lack of cooperation.

"We told Mr. Annan that his good offices mission was most necessary since the war has been over for 24 years, which is not an insignificant number and this in spite of Argentina's willingness to resume talks".

As to Mr. Annan's reply, Mr. Taiana is quoted by the Argentine press saying that "the UN Secretary General knows about the issue and was interested in some details and different aspects of the bilateral relation with the UK", promising to see how he would address the "good offices" request.

Mr Taiana recalled that the Secretary General has been mandated by the UN General Assembly "to help Argentina and the United Kingdom in the resumption of sovereignty negotiations over the Malvinas islands", but this has been systematically rejected by British officials.

The Argentine official handed Mr. Annan an update on different aspects of the relation that included flights to the Islands, fisheries, hydrocarbons exploration, mine sweeping, "all confidence building measures to help improve relations with the Islands and the British".

This Thursday before C24, Mr. Taiana besides claiming sovereignty over the Falklands will call for renewed support from the General Assembly which has for several years running invited both sides involved to resume talks.

During the C 24 Thursday session two Falkland Islanders will be presenting the Islands case, elected Councillors Richard Stevens and Richard Davies, plus two petitioners sponsored by Argentina, Dolores Reynolds and María Angelica Vernet, allegedly a descendent from Argentine governor of the Islands in early XIX century Luis Vernet.

The Argentine delegation besides Minister Taiana includes Argentina's ambassador before UN, Cesar Mayoral; the head of the Malvinas Desk in the ministry Eduardo Airaldi, and the chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Committees from the Senate and Lower House, Senator Carlos Reutenmann and Deputy Jorge Argüello.

Mr. Taiana will also call on the UK to respect the UN General Assembly Resolution 3149/76 which calls on both sides to abstain from "unilateral modifications" while the islands are "in the process of decolonization".

"Thursday' presentation will be legally more detailed and in describing the current colonial situation of the Islands which represents British presence in the South Atlantic". The fact that the Malvinas issue is still in the General Assembly's agenda is "a clear indication that the controversy has not been solved as has been requested annually by the General Assembly until 1988 and the Decolonization Committee from 1989 until now", indicated a member of the Argentine delegation.

However the C24 resolution is not binding.

"You could talk about a good neighborly spirit since Argentina and the Falklands share the same region, but on sovereignty issues there's nothing to talk about", a British diplomat is quoted by the Argentine press.

"It's evident that the Kirchner administration, through Bielsa and with Taiana now has chosen a Malvinas policy more in harmony with the hard line of former president Ricardo Alfonsín than the "seduction" experience of Guido Di Tella and president Carlos Menem", indicated an Argentine analyst.