The Argentinean government Friday rejected plans by Britain to hold military exercises in the disputed Malvinas Islands, known to Britain as the Falkland Islands, and summoned British Ambassador John Freeman to lodge a formal complaint.

The British government "has scheduled military exercises for April 14 and 27 on occupied Argentine territory, including missile launchings from the Malvinas Islands," said Argentinean Foreign Minister Hector Timerman in a statement, adding that the exercises would "disrupt the peace in Latin America."

The move, the minister said, is part of "a pattern of behavior denounced by the president (Cristina Fernandez) on April 2, according to which provocation and hostile actions against Argentina by a foreign nuclear power are being repeated."

Freeman was summoned so that the government could "deliver a letter of vehement protest against this new bellicose demonstration of force in a zone of peace, such as the South Atlantic, by one of the founders and principal military powers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)," the ministry said.

Argentina said the move showed Britain disregarded United Nations resolutions calling on the two sides in the territorial dispute to resolve their differences through negotiation and avoid unilateral actions.

The South American nation also reiterated its claim that Britain's "occupation of the Malvinas is no more than an excuse to establish a strong military base, since it serves its strategic interests in the South Atlantic (and) plans for the Antarctic, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean."

The Malvinas archipelago, located 600 kilometers off Argentina's southern coast, has been under British rule since British troops first occupied the islands in 1833.

In April 1982, the two nations fought a bitter war over the islands after an Argentine naval ship landed there. The Falklands War, inflicting heavy casualties on both sides, ended on June 14 with Argentina's withdrawal.