BUENOS AIRES: Argentina said Thursday it summoned the British ambassador over media reports that London spied on the South American country to block its efforts to win sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
"Actions of this sort violate the right to privacy," Argentina's Deputy Foreign Minister Eduardo Zuain told British Ambassador John Freeman, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Argentine news portal TN reported last week that documents leaked by fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden showed that the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group, a British agency, carried out a "long-term, far-reaching" espionage program in Argentina.
The program, dubbed Operation Quito, included attempts to spy on military and political leaders' communications and spreading pro-British propaganda online, the report said.
Argentina demanded an explanation from the British ambassador for London's silence on the matter, the foreign ministry said.
Britain defeated Argentina in a brief, bloody war over the South Atlantic islands, which Buenos Aires calls the Malvinas, in 1982.
Tension has been on the rise since British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon last month announced plans to spend £180 million ($268 million) over 10 years to beef up Britain's defenses on the islands and counter "continuous intimidation" from Argentina.
The dispute has also regained importance in recent years since the discovery of significant oil deposits off the islands.
Zuain told the British ambassador that Argentina would lodge "a criminal complaint against the companies that are carrying out exploration activities for fossil fuels on Argentina's continental shelf in violation of... United Nations resolutions on the Malvinas Islands issue."
Argentina claims it inherited the remote, wind-swept islands from Spain when it gained independence.
Britain argues it has historically ruled them and that the islanders should have the right to self-determination. In a 2013 referendum, 99.8 percent voted to remain a British overseas territory.
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