Thatcher makes ‘last chance offer’ to Argentinians

Press, 4 June 1982, Page 6

Thatcher makes ‘last chance offer’ to Argentinians

NZPA-Reuter London The British Prime Minister (Mrs Margaret Thatcher) has given Argentina a last chance to pull out of the Falkland Islands before British forces.-with the occupied capital of Port Stanley alread}' in their gunsights, begin a final assault on the main Argentine garrison. As British correspondents reported that the estimated 7000 Argentine troops dug in around Port Stanley were under attack by land, sea and air, Mrs Thatcher said that there would be no need for a battle if Argentina undertook to withdraw within the next 10 to 14 days. “It's a possibility totally linked to a timed withdrawal." she said in a television interview yesterday. “I'm not very optimistic, but one never loses hope.”

Mrs Thatcher told another interviewer that she realised it would be difficult for the Argentine President (Lieu-tenant-General Leopoldo Galtieri), to withdraw. But she said his troops had their backs to the sea and he might want to avoid a prolonged and difficult battle. Referring to Argentina’s seizure of the South Atlantic colony on April 2, she said: “I am not seeking to humiliate anyone. I am asking the invader to return his troops to the mainland. That is not humiliation. It is a restoration of international law.” Asked about the chances of an Argentine withdrawal, Mrs Thatcher said: “If they are going to withdraw, they will decide to withdraw in the next few days.”

After repossessing the islands Britain would talk to other nations about the future security of the Falklands.

“I think we are going to be there for some time ... I hope we can arrange some other people to help have a multinational force with us," she said.

British correspondents in the Falklands reported that British troops, firmly in control of heights overlooking Port Stanley, were keeping up pressure on the Argentines while building up equipment for the assault on the garrison. ’’ > . < < ,

A Reuter correspondent, Leslie Dowd, said that commandos had pushed forward to seize positions just 11km from the capital and an artillery battery installed on high ground had the Argentine garrison in its gunsights. Other correspondents reported that from Mount Kent, the 470 m ridge 16km west of Port Stanley, British soldiers could see through binoculars Argentine troops having lunch.

Mount Kent had taken four days to capture and paved the way for an assault on the town, said one pooled dispatch. It also reported exchanges of artillery fire with Argentines around the town.

“The final build-up for an assault on Port Stanley is in hand,” correspondents said. “British forces are already well advanced in the basic plan ,to surround the Argentine’garrison, cut off all hope of supplies from the mainland, and force an eventual surrender."

Major-General Jeremy Moore, of the Royal. Marines, directing the 'British force outside Port Stanley, said in a television interview: “We have got very close in and we are beginning to apply pressure to . the main enemy positions throughout Stanley. Clearly I'm going to build up that pressure."

.Senior defence officials in London told reporters that no big battle for the capital was expected for a few days.

In Washington, a United States Government meteorologist said that thunderstorms and strong, gusty winds were heading towards the Falklands. The weather in the islands was likely to deteriorate in the next couple of days, he said.

Temperature information from the nearest available weather station, off the coast of Chile, showed readings between 2deg. and 6deg. . On the Falklands the British correspondents said: “Our worst enemy is likely to be the weather ... it is now bitterly cold." The latest pooled dispatch from the Falklands reported that British Harrier jets had .bombed and rocketed Argentine positions.

Correspondents said that Argentine Canberra bombers had struck at the San Carlos beachhead on East Falkland where British troops landed on May 21. The Defence Ministry reported casualties among British troops and Argentine prisoners yesterday in an accident involving explosives at the Goose Green settlement, taken last week-end. It gave no casualty figures. A 8.8. C. correspondent, Brian Hanrahan, said the blast was believed to have been caused by faulty explosives and not booby traps, as first thought. Military sources in Buenos Aires said that prospects for a cease-fire appeared remote, and they quoted remarks by the Foreign Minister (Dr Nicanor Costa Mendez) in Rio de Janeiro yesterday that a peaceful solution was slipping away. Dr Costa Mendez was speaking during a stop-over on way to a non-aligned Ministerial conference in Havana, the first such conference attended by an Argentine Foreign Minister since the Right-wing military Government came to power in 1976.

He is expected to seek more international support for Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the Falklands and condemnation of Britain for refusing to recognise this claim.