...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
has warned Argentina that UK would "robustly" defend Malvinas Islands if necessary, insisting UK would hold talks with Buenos Aires on any issue except the islands' illusory sovereignty.
Mark Lyall Grant pointed out the British government's controversial stand over the disputed islands after Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman paid a visit to UN Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
and the president of the UN Security Council to call on the UK to stop militarizing the region.
"We are not looking to increase the war of words, but clearly if there is an attempt to take advantage of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war by Argentina, then we will obviously defend our position and defend it robustly," Lyall Grant said.
His comments came only a day after Prime Minister
David Cameron... has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
announced he would defend the archipelago "properly."
The war rhetoric between London and Buenos Aires over the oil-rich islands have heightened as the 30th anniversary of the Malvinas (Falklands) war approaches.
Argentine condemned the constant military threats of the UK government and made a formal complaint to the UN to voice its opposition against the dispatch of an heir to throne, the Duke of Cambridge, to the islands along with the deployment of destroyer HMS Dauntless and an advanced nuclear submarine.
The British envoy neither admitted nor rejected reports that UK was sending its most sophisticated nuclear-armed submarine to protect the islands from Argentine's possible counter-move.
"We do not comment on the disposition of nuclear weapons, submarines, et cetera. But it is well known that ... as part of our overall defensive posture, there are submarines on patrol all around the world at any time. So it's not a question of anything new in what he (Timerman) is suggesting," Lyall Grant said.
While Ban Ki-moon called on the two nations to resolve the problem through dialogue, Lyall Grant ruled out the possibility of getting involved in further negotiations.
"We have always been open to dialogue with Argentina. ... We had a dialogue with Argentina and they broke it off. we are not going to discuss illusory sovereignty," he added.