Effigy of Prince William burnt on Falklands War anniversary

Buenos Aires (Argentina), Apr.3 (ANI): Argentinian leftists protesting near the British Embassy in Buenos Aires burnt an effigy of Britain's Prince William, who recently participated in naval exercises near the islands.

The demonstrators also burned a British flag.

The burning of Prince William's effigy took place on the 30th anniversary of the Falkland Islands War.

The Falkland Islands are under British control and have been since 1833, but Argentina says it inherited the South Atlantic archipelago from the Spanish crown.

Thirty years ago, more than 900 people died in a bloody 74-day war as Britain drove off Argentinian troops who had invaded the islands.

The anniversary has underscored tensions over the islands.

Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner railed Monday against the British for maintaining control of the Falklands, calling it "absurd," and has warned Argentinian banks not to lend money to oil exploration projects under discussion there.

Britain argues that the Falkland Islanders should decide whose leadership they want. Nearly all of the islanders are British citizens, and they have repeatedly insisted that they want to be British.

Argentina has countered that, under the United Nations charter, self-determination is reserved for "ethnic groups," not for "spaces illegally occupied by transplanted communities." (ANI)