Peruvian, Argentinian proposals for Britain

Press, 13 April 1982, Page 1

Peruvian, Argentinian proposals for Britain

NZPA London The American Secretary of State, Mr Haig, arrived at Heathrow Airport, London, yesterday on the latest stage of his mission to find a peaceful settlement to the Falkland Islands crisis.

As he flew in, Britain’s four a.m. (4 p.m. N.Z. time yesterday) deadline bringing into effect the 200-mile no-go zone in the seas around the islands passed without report of any incident. Mr Haig flew direct to London from Buenos Aires, where he had talks with the Argentinian President, General Leopoldo Galtieri, about the Argentinian invasion of the south Atlantic island group.

Mr Haig, accompanied by his entourage of officials and bodyguards, promptly sped off to London for talks with Britain's Prime Minister (Mrs Thatcher). “I am bringing here to the British Government, to Mrs Thatcher and her Ministers, some ideas which have been developed on the basis of the United Nations Security Council resolution 502, and look forward to these discussions,” Mr Haig told reporters. Mr Haig is expected to put forward a plan for the with-i drawal of Argentinian forces from the Falklands and South Georgia and their replacement by forces from the United Nations and countries of the Organisation of American States. Mrs Thatcher had a meeting with Ministers most closely associated with the crisis at 10 Downing Street on Sunday evening. A Defence Ministry spokesman said yesterday that there had been no incidents in the no-go zone round the islands since the deadline.

Most of the Argentinian Navy was yesterday reported to be in port in Argentina. The Defence Ministry said on Sunday evening that only one Argentinian destroyer and a frigate were still at sea. On the deployment of the Argentinian Navy, a defence spokesman told reporters: “We note that their aircraft carrier, their only cruiser, seven of their eight destroyers. two of their three frigates and all of the submarines are back in mainland ports.” The Foreign Secretary (Mr Pym) said that if there was going to be an arrangement to settle the dispute by diplomatic means he would not expect there to be any targets within the maritime exclusion zone.

Mr Pym said on television that “if there is going to be some arrangement by diplomatic means to end this dispute, I would not expect there to be any targets within that zone." He added: “in view of Mr Haig’s efforts, which we totally support, I hope the Argentinians don't present a target."

Reports said that Mr Haig was carrying Argentinian proposals offering:

© A withdrawal of its troops from the islands providing the main British task force steaming to the south Atlantic is turned back.

©The 1800 Falkland Islanders would be allowed to choose their own form of government but the Argentinian flag was to be kept flying there.

0 Diplomatic sources in Buenos Aires said a Peruvian plan for an international peace-keeping force to be sent to the islands was also among the ideas Mr Haig would discuss on his second trip to London to explore prospects for a settlement. Under the plan expounded by Peruvian officials and diplomats in Lima, the United Nations, the Organisation of American States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation could contribute to the force. A small arsenal of weapons, including a sub-machine-gun and several automatic pistols, carried with Mr Haig on the aircraft had to be checked and authorised by the British police. It is not yet known when the Secretary of State is due to fly out again, but a constant watch was being kept on his aircraft as it stood at Heathrow.

As Mr Haig’s shuttle diplomacy mission continued, the Royal Navy task force continued heading for the South Atlantic "on course, on time.”

The Royal Navy yesterday announced that schoolchildren touring the Mediterranean on the 16,907-ton cruise liner Uganda would be put ashore at Naples and the ship would sail to Gibraltar to be fitted out as a floating hospital. Another liner, the Canberra, is already carrying 2000 troops south from Britain to join the Falklands task force. The Defence Ministry, meanwhile, was yesterday still unable to confirm the whereabouts of the 22 Royal Marines captured • in last week-end's invasion of South Georgia, 800 miles east of the Falklands.

Argentinian reports claimed they were on board a ship, accompanied by 13 civilians removed from the island, and there were fears that they could still be inside the no-go zone. A spokesman at the Ministry said he had heard of no last-minute changes to the terms of the blockade, announced in Parliament by the Ministry of Defence (Mr Nott) last Wednesday.

British submarines were in the area round the windswept south Atlantic archipelago occupied by 1800 residents and a force of some 6000 Argentinian troops. Britain is reported to have up to four nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines in the Falklands area.

The Royal Navy task force, headed by the aircraft carriers Invincible and Hermes,' that set out last Monday will not arrive for another week.

Mr Pym made clear yesterday that Britain was ready to discuss all possibilities for the administration of the islands but Argentina had to withdraw its troops first. Mrs Thatcher and her Conservative Government have staked their political future on restoring British rule to the islands, disputed by Argentina since the Union Jack was raised on them in 1833.

The latest survey of British public opinion reported

that four out of five Britons backed mrs Thatcher’s policy on the Falklands.

The poll, made for a commerical television company, found that 65 per cent of those surveyed were willing to have the British Navy sink Argentine warships to reassert control over the islands, and 57 per cent said they would still back the government if British troops were killed.