Argentina to complain to UN over Falklands

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Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner on Tuesday slammed Britain for its 'militarization' of their conflict over the Falklands, saying she would lodge a formal complaint with the United Nations.

"We will present a complaint to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, as this militarization poses a grave danger to international security," Kirchner told a group of politicians and Falklands war veterans.

The two sides have ramped up the rhetoric in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the war, which broke out on April 2, 1982, when the ruling junta in Buenos Aires invaded the disputed islands in a bid to end British rule.

Britain has held the islands since 1833.

Argentine officials have been seething in recent weeks, denouncing the deployment of a British warship and the dispatch of Prince William, second in line to the throne, for a tour of duty as a helicopter pilot.

Buenos Aires has also reacted sharply to a report that Britain had moved a nuclear submarine to the region, even though British officials have not confirmed the report in the Daily Mail newspaper.

Britain "is once again in the process of militarizing the south Atlantic," Kirchner said in the speech before an audience that included diplomats and opposition leaders, a map of the islands draped in Argentina's flag behind her.

"We cannot interpret in any other way the deployment of an ultra-modern destroyer accompanying the heir to the throne, whom we would prefer to see in civilian attire."

She said the Falklands were no longer "the cause of only the people of Argentina, but the cause of all Latin Americans - and a worldwide cause."

Argentina has obtained the support of neighbors Brazil, Uruguay and Chile, who have all refused to welcome ships flying the Falklands flag in their ports -- a diplomatic offensive that sparked anger in London.

Hundreds of protesters rallied near the Casa Rosada (Pink House), the government palace where Kirchner was speaking, waving Argentine flags and shouting: "Malvinas! They belong to us!" referring to the islands as they are known here.

The tensions have brought together normally feuding Argentine political sectors, with the opposition largely backing Kirchner's position.