The UK Ministry of Defence admitted for the first time on Friday that British ships carried nuclear weapons in the Falklands war.
The disclosure came as the British government was forced to concede -- after a long-running campaign by The Guardian daily -- that seven nuclear weapon containers were damaged during a series of wartime accidents.
But many of the details of these accidents are still being kept secret by the ministry.
It also refused to say whether any nuclear depth charges were on board the British warship HMS Sheffield, which was sunk during the war.
The ministry's admission confirms persistent rumors that the taskforce which recaptured the islands in 1982 was equipped with nuclear weapons.
The ministry insisted that there was never any intention to use the weapons during the war and that their presence did not break any disarmament treaties. But the admission has provoked concern from the Argentine government. The Argentine defense minister, Jose Pampuro, said he was worried in case the accidents had spread radioactivity and he wanted assurances from the ministry.
According to the limited information released by the ministry, the nuclear depth charges were already on board unnamed ships in the taskforce when it sailed to the South Atlantic at the outbreak of the war.
"A decision was taken to transfer them to other ships heading back home," a ministry spokesman said.
Seven containers were damaged "in some way" when they were transporting the weapons onto other ships.
The ministry claims that none of the actual weapons was damaged and that "in what was considered the worst case, a container sustained severe distortion to a door housing."
The ministry finally released information concerning the accidents after a six-year battle fought by The Guardian under the open-government code.
After the ministry had blocked a request for information, the parliamentary ombudsman criticized the ministry and ordered it to publish a list of 20 accidents and mishaps involving nuclear weapons between 1960 and 1991.
But despite the ombudsman's critical verdict this year, the ministry continued to conceal the Falklands accidents, and has only divulged their existence after further pressure from The Guardian.
Last night's admission by the ministry fails to clear up the most controversial allegation: that the nuclear weapons were sunk along with the HMS Sheffield after the ship was hit by an Exocet missile a month into the war. The crip-pled ship was towed for six days until it sank.
Faced with the ombudsman's refusal to support the ministry's policy of secrecy, the department yesterday opted for damage limitation, putting out a statement to all media in the traditional slot for unwelcome news: late on a Friday afternoon.
The ministry said the transfers of the WE177 depth charges took place at various times during April, May and June in 1982, "well away from other sea-going traffic, and the weapons were held in ships with the best-protected magazines before being returned to Britain."
The ministry insisted that the nuclear weapons never entered the territorial waters of the Falklands or any South American country.
VAGUE: The criteria of the amnesty remain unclear, but it would cover political violence from 1999 to today, and those convicted of murder or drug trafficking would not qualify Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the US-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodriguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency. Rodriguez also announced the shutdown
Civil society leaders and members of a left-wing coalition yesterday filed impeachment complaints against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, restarting a process sidelined by the Supreme Court last year. Both cases accuse Duterte of misusing public funds during her term as education secretary, while one revives allegations that she threatened to assassinate former ally Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The filings come on the same day that a committee in the House of Representatives was to begin hearings into impeachment complaints against Marcos, accused of corruption tied to a spiraling scandal over bogus flood control projects. Under the constitution, an impeachment by the
Exiled Tibetans began a unique global election yesterday for a government representing a homeland many have never seen, as part of a democratic exercise voters say carries great weight. From red-robed Buddhist monks in the snowy Himalayas, to political exiles in megacities across South Asia, to refugees in Australia, Europe and North America, voting takes place in 27 countries — but not China. “Elections ... show that the struggle for Tibet’s freedom and independence continues from generation to generation,” said candidate Gyaltsen Chokye, 33, who is based in the Indian hill-town of Dharamsala, headquarters of the government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). It
A Virginia man having an affair with the family’s Brazilian au pair on Monday was found guilty of murdering his wife and another man that prosecutors say was lured to the house as a fall guy. Brendan Banfield, a former Internal Revenue Service law enforcement officer, told police he came across Joseph Ryan attacking his wife, Christine Banfield, with a knife on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023. He shot Ryan and then Juliana Magalhaes, the au pair, shot him, too, but officials argued in court that the story was too good to be true, telling jurors that Brendan Banfield set
RSS