Argentina's new government said last night it is required by its constitution to reclaim sovereignty over the Falklands and has called on Britain to resume talks on the islands' future.
Foreign Minister Mr Rafael Bielsa told the UN General Assembly's special committee on decolonization that Buenos Aires wanted to peacefully resolve the dispute via direct negotiations with London.
But Mr Mike Summers, a member of the island's Legislative Council, accused Buenos Aires of trying to frustrate self-government on the islands.
Argentina has claimed sovereignty over the Falklands, which it calls the Malvinas, since 1833. Britain and Argentina went to war over the islands in 1982 after Argentina's then-military government sent in troops to enforce its sovereignty claim.
Britain emerged victorious after 10 weeks of fighting in which about 1,000 soldiers were killed, 652 of them Argentine.
"It is unacceptable for the United Kingdom to use its confrontation with a former military government as an excuse to avoid negotiations on sovereignty," Mr Bielsa told the UN decolonisation committee yesterday.
The Organisation of American States, meeting last week in Santiago, Chile, has also reiterated its support for talks aimed at a peaceful resolution of the dispute.
Mr Bielsa delivered his plea for fresh talks with Britain after Argentina's new president, Mr Nestor Kirchner, stressed at his May 25th inauguration that he came from southern Argentina which was "imbued with Malvinas culture".