Buenos Aires, Feb 12 (IANS/EFE) The Argentine government said it blocked a shipment of steel pipes thought to be destined for British firms planning to explore for oil in the Falkland Islands, which were the object of a brief war between Argentina and Britain in 1982.
The incident occurred a week after Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the South Atlantic archipelago Latin Americans know as the Malvinas, protested to London over the imminent start of oil exploration in the waters around the British colony.

The Argentine foreign ministry said in a statement that investigations revealed “that the foreign-flagged vessel Thor Leader was to be used in the Campana port (near Buenos Aires) to transport a shipment of seamless pipes made in Argentina”.

“There is evidence indicating that the vessel was to be used to supply material linked to oil-industry activities that the United Kingdom is illegally promoting in the Malvinas Islands,” the statement said.

British-owned Rockhopper and Desire Petroleum announced two weeks ago the imminent arrival of a rig to be used for exploration work in what Buenos Aires says is an area of Argentina’s continental shelf that Britain is illegally occupying.

The statement quoted Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana as saying the Argentine government has “energetically protested” to London over different British “unilateral actions with which it has tried to explore or exploit natural resources located in Argentine territory in an area which is subject to a dispute over sovereignty and jurisdiction”.

Taiana also said in the statement that Argentina had already warned back in 2007 that it would adopt measures “aimed at sanctioning companies that contract other firms that have carried out oil-development activities in Argentina’s continental shelf” without proper authorisation.

Argentine troops landed in the Falklands April 2, 1982.

Full-fledged fighting in the islands, which have been in British hands since 1833, officially began May 1, 1982, with the arrival of a British task force and ended 45 days later with the surrender of Argentine forces.

The conflict, started by the military regime that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, claimed nearly 1,000 lives - some 700 Argentines and 255 British soldiers and sailors.

–IANS/EFE

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