nuclear-news

Objection by Argentina to British nuclear submarine in South Atlantic

UK sent nuclear sub near Falklands, says Argentina, BBC News, 10 Feb 12, The UK says the HMS Dauntless is being sent to the South Atlantic as part of routine operations

Argentina’s foreign minister has accused the UK of sending a nuclear-armed submarine to the South Atlantic, after making an
official complaint to the UN over the Falklands dispute. Hector Timerman demanded that the British confirm the location of
nuclear submarines in the region. But UK officials said the
accusations of militarisation were “absurd”.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon earlier called on both sides to avoid an
“escalation” in tensions over the Falkland Islands. The two countries
went to war in 1982 over the British overseas territory.

Mr Timerman told a news conference at the UN in New York that the UK
was “militarising the region”, repeating accusations made by Argentine
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner earlier this week.

“Argentina has information that, within the framework of the recent
British deployment in the Falklands, they sent a nuclear submarine
with the capacity to transport nuclear weapons to the South Atlantic,”
Mr Timerman said.

He did not elaborate on the information, but said the vessel was
Vanguard-class, a group that carries Trident nuclear missiles. He
added that Mr Ban had agreed to talk to the British about Argentina’s
complaints.

The Latin America and the Caribbean region is designated a
nuclear-free zone under a treaty signed in the 1960s.

In response, Britain’s UN envoy Mark Lyall Grant said the government
does not comment on the “disposition of nuclear weapons, submarines
etc”……
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16993391

February 11, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, SOUTH AMERICA