Prime Minister Asserts Rights to Arctic Waters
New Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned the United States to back off from a challenge of Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters that are thawing from global warming.
In the first news conference since his election, Harper upbraided U.S. Ambassador David H. Wilkins for asserting that the icy polar regions are international waters.
Canada claims that its estimated 16,000 islands in the region make it Canadian.
The two countries and Russia have had conflicting claims in the Arctic for decades. Harper’s Conservative Party has proposed expanding Canada’s military presence in the region.
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