Hague turns down Malvinas meet

British Foreign Secretary William Hague yesterday affirmed he is “open” to a meeting with Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman, who is currently in the United Kingdom, but reiterated that such an encounter would have to include Malvinas government representatives. “The offer for Mr.Timerman remains open but of course in any discussion about the Falkland Island’s (Malvinas) inhabitants, their presence is very important,” Hague suggested.

Timerman arrived in London yesterday and is set to speak aboutthe Malvinas at several events this week.

Speaking yesterday, the Foreign Minister upheld that “without Malvinas, Argentina is a country which is not complete,” assuring that he is “willing to meet with the foreign minister (Hague.)”

Before hearing of the British government’s negative response to a bilateral meeting, the foreign minister, who qualified the Malvinas government as “illegal,” stated: “We came to demonstrate that we are a peaceful, democratic country, which is waiting for England to accept the request of those 190 countries” (in a reference to the 192 members of the United Nations and UN resolutions calling on Britain and Argentina to engage in dialogue over Malvinas sovereignty).

The minister went on to declare that he would accept dialogue “according to the UN mandate,” and condemned the UK government for unleashing “orders” and “ultimata.”

Argentine ambassador to London UK Alicia Castro, who supported Timerman’s request by sending a letter to Hague, later emphasized that “there is no third party in the negotiation ... there are two states party to a sovereignty dispute and it must be resolved between the two states. It is unacceptable for Hague to seek to impose discussions with British public officials from the islands on Foreign Minister Timerman.”

With regard to the British argument of self-determination determining the island’s sovereignty, Castro argued the “islanders do not have the right to define the dispute, as more than 40 UN resolutions, from the General Assembly and the Decolonization Committee, have identified that a special and particular colonial situation exists” between both countries.

The ambassador added that Prime Minister David Cameron’s government has “launched a media campaign to simulate that Argentina rejects dialogue” in refusing to accept the participation of Malvinas authorities.

In his UK trip, Timerman is set to meet with International Maritime Organization president Koji Sekimizu, visit Parliament for a meeting with a multi-party group which seeks to foster positive relations between Argentina and the UK, led by Conservative MP Robin Walker, and finally congregate at Castro’s residence with 18 pro-dialogue spokespersons from across the European Union who support the Argentine case.

Herald with DyN, Telam, Ambito.com

Timerman: ‘No AMIA objections received’

Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman stated yesterday that he hadn’t received any objections from the Jewish community over a recent accord signed with Iran to participate in investigating the 1994 AMIA terrorist bombing tragedy: “I had a meeting with victim’s relatives, the DAIA and AMIA but no one objected, they just asked for explanations.”