MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News update

Headlines: Les and Duel nab 18th win; Scholars dispute claim; Flights suspended to three island airstrips; Sex offender avoids prison; News in Brief.

Les and Duel nab 18th winFOR an incredible eighteenth time, Les (Luch) Morrison has walked away with the winner's shield in the Champion Sheep Dog Trials. The competition was held as part of a weekend of festivities at the Port Howard two-nighter. Photos and report on page 11. Scholars dispute claimTWO independent scholars of Falklands history have disputed Argentina's claim to the Islands at a presentation at the London School of Economics. They made their public lecture entitled 'Getting it right: the real history of the Falklands/Malvinas' as a direct response to a seminar organised by the Argentine Embassy in London, which took place in December. In conjunction with their presentation, university lecturer Dr Graham Pascoe, and former co-editor on the Falkland Islands NewsletterPeter Pepper distributed a booklet refuting the Argentine claim. Mr Pepper explained the basis of the presentation and booklet: "[At the Argentine presentation in December] Ambassador Mirre opened with a short address repeating the usual nonsense about Britain expelling an Argentine population in the Falklands in January 1833. "This is a complete falsehood. Britain only told the Argentine garrison to go then - and that was only 26 men, who had been there just under three months. Britain had protested when they were sent there. Also many of them were criminals serving sentences in the army, and they soon murdered their own commanding officer. Captain Onslow of HMS Clio, who reasserted British sovereignty in January 1833, did his best to persuade the handful of civilian residents then to stay - and most did." Ambassador Mirre also distributed a pamphlet at the December presentation with a brief summary of the Argentine historical case, which Mr Pepper said was full of errors. He added: "In their December presentation, the Argentines had Professor Rudolf Dolzer as a speaker. I may well have been the only one in the audience that had read his book, I was certainly the only one who knew that it was full of errors - all of them in Argentina's favour." This, he said, spurred him and Dr Pascoe to work on the booklet as a rebuttal to the Argentine assertions: "We want to put the record straight - and expose the falsehoods the Argentines are telling. "Our goal in having the presentation was to provide a formal launch for the booklet, and also to do a counter-presentation to the Argentine presentation in December - which was so obviously one-sided." For a number of years Dr Pascoe and Mr Pepper have been working in collaboration on a history book of the Islands, although both have been working separately on the history of the Falklands for much longer than that. The book, will be about 1,200 pages long and will probably comprise two volumes, Mr Pepper said: "It will be a reference work, it will not be light or casual reading." Flights suspended to three island airstripsTHE Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS) has again suspended operations into the three "marginal" airstrips on Beaver Island, West Point Island and New Island pending further investigation by Air Safety Support International (ASSI). The General Manager of FIGAS, Mr Shaun Minto, confirmed that the suspension would remain in place until ASSI had reviewed the situation and confirmed that all issues pertaining to runway length had been resolved. "It is likely that this may require some development work on each of the airstrips," he said. Mr Minto stated: "Although the previous issue regarding the landing distance at these three aerodromes has been resolved, it now appears that take-off distance may in fact be the more limiting phase of flight for the Islander aircraft." He expressed concern that the issue of take-off distance did not appear to have been addressed during the recent ASSI review of FIGAS operations, and confirmed that active discussions on this were taking place. FIGAS is now in consultation with the Ministry of Defence and British International Helicopters and is seeking to negotiate an interim helicopter service for the three islands, Mr Minto said. Sex offender avoids prisonSTANLEY man Kyle Joshua (18), who on May 5 was found guilty of sexual activity with a child, was spared a custodial sentence on Wednesday. Senior Magistrate Alison Thompson said that without the level of certainty offered by the Social Services within their second presentence report that a suitable rehabilitation programme for the young man could be arranged then a custodial sentence had been an option. Sitting with assessors Marlene Short and Dick Sawle, Miss Thompson said many things had been taken into consideration in their sentencing, including the nature of the sexual activity, the age of and impact on the child (who was 15 at the time), the age gap between the complainant and the offender, the youth and immaturity of Mr Joshua and the risk of his re-offending. She said a custodial sentence could be justified, however it was a difficult balance between the need for a deterrent, punishment and the need for rehabilitation. Continued page 3 News in Brief- The cross sound ferry terminals at Newhaven and Port Howard are taking shape as the new vessel Concordia Bayheads for the Falklands - page 4. - More than £12,000 was raised in the Falklands as part of the BFBS Big Salute (more events are planned over the next few weeks) - page 8 - New proposals for the future operation of FIGAS have been released this week by the airline's General Manager, Shaun Minto - page 9.