UK looks to make Antarctica claim
The UK is looking to claim sovereignty over a large area of the remote seabed off Antarctica.
The claim for an area around British Antarctica is one of a number being prepared by the Foreign Office, a spokeswoman said.
Even if granted, those rights would not allow Britain to contravene the treaty that prohibits oil and gas tapping under the seabed.
The spokeswoman labelled the move "a safeguard for the future".
Mineral rights
The claim, which the spokeswoman stressed is still being prepared in advance of a May 2009 United Nations deadline, could extend Britain's stake for Antarctic waters by more than 1,000 square miles (2,590 sq km) and is permitted under the Law of the Sea Convention.
"This has been under consideration for many years," the spokeswoman said of the move, which she said will not affect the more recent environmental protections put into the Antarctic Treaty in 1991.
"It would be a claim in name only, we wouldn't act because doing any mineral exploitation contravenes the treaty."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7048237.stm
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