Malvinas vote not to end dispute: Argentine diplomat

BUENOS AIRES - A referendum to decide the fate of the Malvinas Islands, known to the British as the Falklands, will not end the territorial dispute between Argentina and Britain, Argentina's ambassador to Britain said Sunday.

The two-day referendum "has a foreseeable outcome," said Ambassador Alicia Castro in a radio interview, adding "only British citizens participate, and it is organized by the British, for the British so that they will say that they have to continue being British."

"I would tell them (island authorities) that they have the obligation or need to understand that it is international law that regulates the relationship between nations, not the capricious will of a small community that can decide a territorial dispute," Castro said.

Argentina claims the islands are historically and geographically a part of Argentina, being thousands of miles from Britain and just over an hour's flight from its South Atlantic coast, and Britain's continued control of the islands is a vestige of colonial rule.

London says it will not discuss sovereignty issues with Buenos Aires unless the islanders expressly wish it.

The islands have been under British control since British troops occupied them in 1833, and are today home to over 2,500 residents of mostly British origin. Some 1,649 are eligible to vote in the referendum.

The islanders hold the vote on Sunday and Monday about whether they want the islands to remain a British overseas territory, and the results will be announced on Monday night.