Strasbourg - The European Court of Human Rights said yesterday that it was too late for relatives of Argentine sailors killed in the Falklands war to seek compensation from Britain.
The Strasbourg-based court said it would not hear the case as the claim, by relatives of two of the 323 sailors killed in the sinking of the Argentine Navy cruiser, General Belgrano, was made outside legal time limits.
It said in a statement that the claim should have been made within six months of the sinking on May 2nd, 1982, or within six months of a final court decision on the case in Britain.
No appeal is possible against the decision. Argentine lawyers have said they intend to take the case to the United Nations World Court in The Hague.