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Argentina summons British ambassador over Malvinas spy charge

Xinhua, April 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Argentina Thursday summoned British Ambassador to Buenos Aires John Freeman, over revelation that Britain used a special spy team to wage a propaganda war against the South American country.

The campaign aimed to garner support for Britain in its territorial dispute with Argentina over the Malvinas Islands, known to the British as the Falklands, according to the Argentine Foreign Affairs Ministry.

"The Argentine government summoned ... Freeman 'to demand an explanation' ... regarding the revelations of large-scale electronic spying directed against Argentina over the Malvinas question," Argentina's state news agency Telam reported, citing the ministry.

The Intercept and Argentine cable news channel Todo Noticias jointly published last Thursday the revelation that "between 2006 and 2011 ... the British government spied on various Argentine leaders and military chiefs to find out the country's plans and objectives in its territorial dispute over the Malvinas Islands," Telam said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Eduardo Zuain told Freeman "such actions violate right to privacy" norms established by the United Nations, Telam said.

In its April 2 edition, online publication The Intercept wrote: "Faced with mounting international pressure over the Falkland Islands territorial dispute, the British government enlisted its spy service, including a highly secretive unit known for using 'dirty tricks,' to covertly launch offensive cyberoperations to prevent Argentina from taking the islands."

In 1982, the two countries went to war over the islands, located just off Argentina's southern Atlantic coast and potentially rich in offshore oil. The conflict ended with Britain reasserting its rights over the territory it claimed as its own in the early 1800s.

Zuain also told Freeman the government plans to sue companies taking part in "oil exploration off Argentina's continental coast," in violation of a national law and UN resolutions that urge parties in such disputes to refrain from taking unilateral action. Endi