Two leading Argentine politicians have come under fire after branding British Navy forces that have joined the search for the lost ARA San Juan submarine as 'pirates'.
Britain's HMS Protector has been scouring the South Atlantic as part of the international hunt for the missing vessel, and is being joined by HMS Clyde which has been diverted from South Georgia.
The Royal Navy has also deployed its elite submarine rescue team to join the search. The highly trained team of medics, engineers and escape specialists is continuously on six hours notice to go anywhere in the world.
But despite the increasing desperation to find the crew alive, Argentina's Workers' Party leader Gabriel Solano yesterday appeared to prefer that British forces did not help in the search, instead tweeting: 'F*** you! pirates.'
He then added: 'You are responsible for war crimes, like the sinking of the General Belgrado.'
The opposition party leader and Argentine legislator had earlier commented on a tweet from the British embassy in Buenos Aires that British forces were joining in the search, writing: 'You are occupying troops in Argentine territories'.
He was immediately attacked by ordinary Argentinians who branded him an '***hole' and a 'moron'.
His comments come after another politician, Fernando Esteche, leader of the Quebracho party, also used Twitter to attack the deployment of British forces in the search for the missing sub.
He replied to a post about the operation on the Falkland Islands Twitter account: PIRATES NOW AND ALWAYS!!!!'
He later wrote: 'Yesterday they sank the Belgrano outside the exclusion zone and today they want thanks for their collaboration in the search for the ARA San Juan. That they help but that they do not expect anything in return because they still occupy our islands. These are the laws of the sea!'
Agai, he was criticised by Argentinians growing increasingly concerned about the fate of the 44 submarine crew members.
