Falklands mark liberation, Argentina repeats claim
14 Jun 2007 22:19:42 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds detail on life in the Falklands) By Nicolas Misculin STANLEY, Falkland Islands, June 14 (Reuters) - British veterans paraded in the Falklands on Thursday for the 25th annual celebration of the islands' liberation from an invasion by Argentina, whose president renewed his vow to win the islands peacefully. More than 100 British active military and veterans marched through the island's capital, Stanley, to cannon salutes and music from a British Royal Marines band. "Thanks for freeing us in 1982," read a sign on a building as many of the 3,000 inhabitants of the islands celebrated and veterans expressed a cautious pride. "It's a sad story. We carried out the politicians' wishes. There was a lot of sad things on both sides, on the Argentine side and on our side. But we had to come because it was a piece of British territory," said Kevin Ormond, who fought in the war and then moved to the islands in the 1990s to join the local police force. The war killed 649 Argentines and 255 British troops and left 2,000 wounded. It ended with Argentina's June 14 surrender, 10 weeks after invading the islands a few hundred miles (km) east of its coast, which it has historically laid claim to. Most Argentines still fervently feel the islands they call the Malvinas belong to them, but many admit the military government of 1982 made a big mistake in the invasion even though the British victory did not come easily. In recent years, Argentina has tried to put pressure on Britain through international organizations, asking for bilateral talks on sovereignty of the islands, but Britain has refused. BY PEACEFUL MEANS Margaret Thatcher, who was Britain's prime minister at the time of the war, gave a radio address on Thursday in which she justified sending in British forces and said it had been a "noble cause." In Argentina, President Nestor Kirchner said at a speech at the inauguration of a public gymnasium that the islands would be returned to the South American country by peaceful means. "(Britain) may have won the battle because it's a world power but they will never win by reason or justice. The Malvinas are Argentine and they will return to Argentina by peaceful means," Kirchner said. Before the parade on the islands, in the cold Southern Hemisphere winter, Britain's Prince Edward and Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram attended a religious service. "It's a very special time for us. Liberation day is a very special event, but of course this year, the 25th anniversary, well, it's something else," said Leona Roberts, a Falklander who was 10 years old during the war. Reminders of the war are still very much part of the landscape. Minefields line roads, lakes form inside bomb craters, and the terrain is marked by monuments in honor of British combatants and rusting remains of weapons and war vehicles. Tourists are more and more interested in visiting war cemeteries and battlefields, and Great Britain maintains a large military base in the Falklands.
