Sun and Guardian in bizarre proxy war over Falklands

By Ian Dunt

British newspapers entered into a strange proxy war over the Falklands Islands today, after the Sun published an advert in Argentina's Buenos Aires Herald addressing the territorial dispute.

The ad came a day after Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner took out page in the Guardian and the Independent reiterating her country's historical claim over the islands.

"Until the people of the Falkland Islands choose to become Argentinean, they remain resolutely British," the Sun ad hit back today.

"In the name of our millions of readers and to put it another way: 'HANDS OFF!'"

While the Guardian was widely criticised yesterday for allowing the ad space to be sold, the Sun won few plaudits for its move this morning either.

The move is unlikely to have done much to change attitudes in Argentina, which are as set in stone as they are in the UK.

The Sun ad reiterated arguments about self-determination for the people of the Falklands and said British sovereignty of the islands stretches back to 1765, before the Republic of Argentina even existed.

Argentina claims British forces expelled an Argentinean civilian population 180 years ago but that is hotly disputed, with the UK insisting it was merely a military garrison set up in contradiction of British sovereignty.

While Kirchner demanded David Cameron abide by a 1965 UN resolution to negotiate a solution to the dispute yesterday, the Sun ad pointed out that Argentinean claims are in contradiction to the UN charter's principles of self-determination.