Argentine president asks Pope Francis to defuse Falkland Islands dispute

Agentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has asked Pope Francis to help defuse the long-running dispute over the Falkland Islands.

Mrs Kirchner said after she met the new, Argentine-born pope at the Vatican that she has asked for his intercession to “facilitate dialogue” over the islands, which Argentina claims and calls the Malvinas.

Just last week Prime Minister David Cameron said he does not agree with Francis’ views on the Falklands.

When Francis was archbishop of Buenos Aires he had been quoted as saying that Britain “usurped” the remote islands.

Earlier this month, the islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain a British Overseas Territory.

It was not known how Francis who was officially inaugurated on Tuesday responded to Mrs Kirchner’s request.