By Caroline Stauffer
BUENOS AIRES, June 1 (Reuters) - Forensic scientists this month will start trying to identify the remains of Argentine soldiers buried in anonymous graves on the Falkland Islands after the country's 1982 conflict with Britain, the head of the mission said on Thursday.
There are 123 such graves in Darwin Cemetery in the South Atlantic, one of which contains multiple bodies, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representatives overseeing the mission said at a news conference.
The ICRC has been interviewing families of dead Argentine soldiers since 2012 and around 100 have consented to DNA testing.
"I hope we will succeed in matching some of the graves," head of the mission Laurent Corbaz said. "The plaque on the graves should not remain 'Argentina soldier known only by God'."
In Britain's two-month-long war to reclaim the Falklands, 255 British and about 650 Argentine soldiers died, and it is still a sore point for Argentina.
Argentina's President Mauricio Macri has adopted a softer tone than his predecessor Cristina Fernandez but he has not relinquished Argentina's claim to the islands it calls Malvinas.
Argentina and Britain signed an agreement in December to try to identify the soldiers, splitting the $1.5 million cost. The team will consist of ICRC forensic scientists as well as two experts each from Argentina and Britain.
Exhumation and bone sampling is to begin on June 19 and will likely continue into August, Corbaz said, assuming one to three bodies per day can be analyzed and reburied. The ICRC chose the southern hemisphere winter to avoid interfering with tourism and sheep farming, Corbaz said.
DNA comparisons and analysis will be done at a lab in Cordoba, Argentina, and a final report should be ready by the end of the year, he added. Families will be informed of a match in an interview.
Retired British Army Colonel Geoffrey Cardozo, who then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered in 1983 to recover the dead from various points on the island and set up Darwin Cemetery, will accompany part of the ICRC mission, Corbaz said.
"Fortunately he is still alive and accepted to accompany us for the first week" to help explain how he organized the cemetery, he said. (Reporting by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Scientists aim to identify remains of Argentine soldiers on Falklands
Scientists aim to identify remains of Argentine soldiers on Falklands
Trump discussing how to acquire Greenland; US military always an option, White House says
- Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States
- Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland and the use of the US military in furtherance of the goal is “always an option,” the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump’s ambition of acquiring Greenland as a strategic US hub in the Arctic, where there is growing interest from Russia and China, has been revived in recent days in the wake of the US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States.
The White House said in a statement in response to queries from Reuters that Trump sees acquiring Greenland as a US national security priority necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region.”
“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the White House said.
A senior US official said discussions about ways to acquire Greenland are active in the Oval Office and that advisers are discussing a variety of options.
Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump, the official said.
“It’s not going away,” the official said about the president’s drive to acquire Greenland during his remaining three years in office.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said options include the outright US purchase of Greenland or forming a Compact of Free Association with the territory. A COFA agreement would stop short of Trump’s ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the US.
A potential purchase price was not provided.
“Diplomacy is always the president’s first option with anything, and dealmaking. He loves deals. So if a good deal can be struck to acquire Greenland, that would definitely be his first instinct,” the official said.
Administration officials argue the island is crucial to the US due to its deposits of minerals with important high-tech and military applications. These resources remain untapped due to labor shortages, scarce infrastructure and other challenges.
Leaders from major European powers and Canada rallied behind Greenland on Tuesday, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people.
