MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK restates no Falklands' sovereignty talks

British and Argentine sources have confirmed that the Foreign Office has contacted United Nations and the Organization of American States to restate the no Falklands' sovereignty negotiations “unless and until such time as the Islanders so wish”.

In the latest edition of Scotland on Sunday, Foreign Office minister Geoff Hoon is quoted saying that the UN and the OAS had been subject to the same "no nonsense treatment".

"There can be no negotiations on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands unless and until such time as the Falkland Islanders so wish. The principle of self-determination underlies the government's position", said Hoon.

In Argentina, Clarin following on the Scottish newspaper advance confirmed the information with the British Embassy in Buenos Aires which describes the contacts with the UN in New York and OAS in Washington as "routine communications".

The Foreign Office response follows the latest actions by Argentina's diplomacy to reopen the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute and hopefully bilateral talks between the London and Buenos Aires.

In late June Argentina's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Taiana met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and claimed that he agreed to look at possible solutions to the disagreement. This was followed by the UN's Special Committee on decolonisation, or G 24, which adopted a draft resolution, presented by Chile, stating that "a peaceful and negotiated settlement" was the way to resolve the issue.

This however is an annual event.
Earlier in June at the OAS general assembly in Dominican Republic, the organization voted to approve an Argentine declaration to continue exploring all possible means to solve the problem peacefully" adding that Argentina and Britain "must begin talks about the sovereignty dispute as soon as possible".

This however has also been a recurrent OAS procedure. What can be considered different is the speed with which the Foreign Office objected to the resolution and reiterated its claim over the Islands, particularly regarding the UN position, "it was not a complaint, more a statement of fact - or a restatement of everything we have been saying for decades."