By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, June 20 -- When Argentina's foreign minister Hector Timerman came to take questions from the press an hour after UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant spoke about what he called the Falkland Islands (and others call Malvinas), Inner City Press asked him if the dispute had been raised by his Ambassador Cristina Perceval, now on the Security Council, to Lyall Grant?
"Not yet," Timerman said, with a smile.Video here from Minute 25:15. Earlier he had said he wants to meet with UK foreign minister William Hague, but not with "neighbors." He said there are fewer "British" people on the Malvinas than in his neighborhood in Buenos Aires.
He said when he met recently with Russia's Sergey Lavrov, there were no "neighbors" brought in at the last minute. A Western wire service reporter asked -- begged -- Timerman to agree to meet with Hague and a "delegation," that would include those living on the Islands. It was similar to a recent pleading with Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman to say Ban approves of a "limited" no fly zone over Syria. Timerman didn't bite.
Inner City Press asked Timerman of the idea of the UN's Committee of 24 visiting the Islands. He said they should visit London and Buenos Aires, the parties to the dispute. He said the UK votes 80% of the time against self-determination, but wants to cite it here.
Referring to Syria, it seemed clear, he said that Hague is too busy lobbying to intervene in other people's countries to stop and meet with him, Argentina's foreign minister. He asked, do you want me to walk over to the UK Mission and ask to speak to William Hague on the phone? No, the pro no fly zone Western journalist said. And so he did not go. Watch this site.
