Britain needles Argentine
LONDON, Feb 5, 2012 - Britain continued its needling of Argentine with military moves around the Falkland Islands, as the foreign minister refused to comment on reports it has moved a nuclear submarine to the tense South Atlantic.
Britain's Daily Mail newspaper on Saturday claimed Prime Minister David Cameron had personally approved plans to send one of the Royal Navy's most advanced Trafalgarclass nuclear submarines to the disputed archipelago.
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday, Foreign Secretary William Hague declined to confirm or deny the deployment.
“We don't normally make any comment on the deployment of our submarines,” he said. “But our naval vessels regularly visit the South Atlantic.”
Argentina's defence minister Arturo Puricelli on Saturday described the reported deployment as an “unnecessary display of firepower”.
Tension soared between the two countries
in recent weeks as the thirtieth anniversary of a brief but violent war over the windswept islands approached.
Prince William, the second in line to the British throne, this week began a six-week mission with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Falklands, a move that has infuriated Argentine.
The 29-year-old has been sent to the archipelago as part of his duties as an RAF Sea King helicopter pilot, a deployment Britain says is routine but Argentina has slammed as a “provocation”. Britain has further ratcheted tensions by announcing that it is to send HMS Dauntless, a state-ofthe-art warship, to the South Atlantic. (Based on media
reports)