The UK Deputy prime minister has reaffirmed that the Falklands Islands will remain under British sovereignty.

Deputy Primer Minister Nick Clegg of the Liberal-Democrats said there would be no change in the UK government's stance over ownership of the islands, as the islanders had expressed their wish to remain British.

Speaking to Spain's PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero during a meeting at Moncloa palace in Madrid, he said: "The rights of the Falkland Islanders have a primordial importance. We will not compromise the rights, preferences and sovereignty of the Falklands. We clearly want the Falklands to remain as part of the United Kingdom.”

Last Tuesday, a meeting of the Organization of American States General Assembly declared unanimous support for Argentina’s claims over the Falklands and South Atlantic islands and called for the resumption of bilateral sovereignty talks.

A their meeting the UK Deputy Leader also told Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero that the UK would not change its position regarding Gibraltar, which, while claimed as a British Overseas Territory, has attracted Spanish sovereignty challenges in past years.

Gibraltar was captured by a joint Anglo-Dutch force in 1704 during the War of Spanish Succession and subsequently ceded to Britain by Spain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713