Falklands row prompts minister to quit

Published: April 27, 2008 at 4:57 PM

BUENOS AIRES, April 27 (UPI) -- Argentine Education Minister Marta Torino quit after books were sent to schools calling islands off the country's coast by their British name, officials said.

Torino left his post after protesting Argentine veterans of the 1982 war with Britain over the Falklands Islands -- known to Argentines as Las Malvinas -- said they would sue the government if the books were not withdrawn from schools, La Nacion reported Sunday.

Argentina's former dictatorship launched an unsuccessful attack on the islands in 1982, a 73-day war that left 650 Argentines and 250 British dead. The territorial dispute remains a delicate subject in Argentina.

Argentina again staked its claim to the Falkland Islands this month, saying it would not abandon hope of regaining them from Britain.

President Cristina Kirchner said during a Veterans Day and Victims of the South Atlantic War remembrance that the efforts of those Argentine troops who lost their lives in the short-lived war with Britain over the islands must not be forgotten.

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