Margaret Beckett, the British foreign minister, stressed hergovernment's commitment to "constructive" ties with
She also announced an offer for the families of Argentiniansoldiers killed in the conflict to hold a commemorative event on the islands.
More than 900 people died in the war, including 655 Argentines, 255 Britishtroops and three islanders, before Argentine forces surrendered on June 14,1982.
'A little
Both Britain and
To mark the anniversary of the Argentinian invasion of the islands, known tothe South American nation as Las Malvinas, Al Jazeera is running a series ofreports on the legacy of the conflict.
In the first, correspondent Lucia Newman travelled to the remoteislands in the
She found that the archipelago, consisting of two main islands and 200smaller ones, bears all the hallmarks of a traditional English villageincluding a church, a post office and a pub.
The local population numbers only 3,000 and is greatly outnumbered by theislands' estimated 660,000 sheep.
But despite being situated only 1,000km from Argentina and around 13,000kmfrom the UK, Katherine Jacobson, the owner of a pub in the islands' main townof Stanley, says there is no doubt over the locals' allegiance.
"There is no doubt about it we are British. We are from
Good life
Such a sentiment is echoed by Andreas Short, a farmer and sixth-generationFalklander whose family moved to the island from
"I haven't taken the keys out of my vehicle in 14 years," he says.
"I haven't locked the back door of my house because wedon't have a lock on the back door of our house in
Life is good in the
Prior to the war the islands were little more than an almost feudal farmstate.
Today, thanks to lucrative fishing rights and land reform, they are aprosperous, economically self-sufficient overseas territory that provides freehealth care and education up to university level.
Mike Summers, a legislative councillor in
"Had it not been for the war the
Argentinian threat
But despite the good times and a thriving tourism industry, the legacy of waris never far way for locals.
The soft, peaty terrain means clearing many of the 20,000 landminesduring the war has been difficult with many sinking under the surface.
The presence of a military base is testament to fears that there couldbe another military invasion by
Increased "sabre-rattling" by the government of Nestor Kirchner in
Explaining the decision, Jorge Taina,
For Falklanders such as Andreas Short there is no doubting the Argentiniangovernment's intentions.
"Oh, they are definitely a threat," he says. "There is no twoways about it, they are definitely a threat."