Clinton calls for talks over Falklands dispute

The US Secretary of State has stepped into the row between Argentina and Britain over the disputed Falkland Islands.

After meeting Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez on the first day of her Latin America tour, Hillary Clinton said the United States was ready to help both sides resolve new tensions over oil exploration.

“We want very much to encourage both countries to sit down.. Now we cannot make either one do so, but we think it’s the right way to proceed,” Clinton said in Buenos Aires.

An Argentine invasion force was made to withdraw after a two-month war in 1982 but Buenos Aires still claims the islands and says oil exploration by Britain is a breach of sovereignty.

However, London maintains the drilling is allowed by international law.

The firm managing the operation says the offshore prospect could contain up to 400 million barrels, although the exploration may recover nothing.

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