Argentina to take Falklands case to UN

Buenos Aires plans protest as President Kirchner accuses UK of "militarising the south Atlantic" in islands dispute.

Argentina plans to present a formal complaint in the United Nations over Britain's "militarisation" of the situation in the Falkland Islands, known as Las Malvinas in Argentina.

"We will present a complaint to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, as this militarisation poses a grave danger to international security," President Cristina Kirchner told a group of politicians and Argentine veterans of the 1982 Falklands war on Tuesday.

Referring to the British navy's deployment of a state-of-the-art warship to the region last week, Kirchner said that the UK was "once again in the process of militarising the south Atlantic".

"We cannot interpret in any other way the deployment of an ultra-modern destroyer accompanying the heir to the throne, who we would prefer to see in civilian attire," she added, referring to Prince William, second in line to the British throne, who is currently serving as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot on the islands.

Hundreds of protesters rallied near the government palace where Kirchner was speaking, waving Argentine flags and shouting: "Malvinas! They belong to us!"