BUENOS AIRES: Docum­ents leaked by fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden show Britain spied on Argentina to monitor its efforts to win sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, Argentine media said on Friday.

Britain, which defeated Argentina in a brief, bloody war over the South Atlantic islands in 1982, carried out “covert interception and intervention operations and other maneuvers” on Argentina from 2008 to 2011, reported news portal TN, citing documents obtained from Snowden.

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The website said the Joint Threat Research Intel­ligence Group, a British agency, carried out a “long-term, far-reaching” espionage program dubbed Operation Quito that included attempts to spy on military and political leaders’ communications and spreading pro-British propaganda online.

“The new, never-before-seen documents expose how (Britain’s) most secret task forces used a dirty game and systematic disinformation to launch their cyber-offensive,” said the website.

“The objective: to prevent Argentina from getting back the islands.” Snowden, a former contractor at the US National Security Agency, has lived in exile in Russia since 2013 after revealing mass spying programs by the United States and its allies.

Tension over the Falk­lands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas, have been on the rise again since British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon last week announced plans to spend 180 million pound ($268 million) over 10 years to counter “continuous intimidation” from Argentina.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner said on Thursday at commemorations to mark the 33rd anniversary of the invasion that Buenos Aires “is not a danger to anyone”, dismissing London’s move to beef up defenses as political posturing ahead of Britain’s general elections on May 7.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2015

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