UK: David Cameron REBUKES new Pope over Argentina's claim to islands

• Pope over Argentina's claim to islands 
• Cameron urged world leaders to respect the 99.8 percent vote
• But Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner describes voters as 'squatters'
• Previously said the islands were 'Argentinian soil'  'usurped' by Britain
• Kirchner has already asked the Pope to take a message to world powers

Prime Minister David Cameron today said he disagreed with the new pope, Francis I, over the future of the Falkland Islands.

Pope Francis, who is the first Argentinian pontiff and a former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, has previously described the disputed islands as 'Argentinian soil' which was 'usurped' by Britain.

But Mr Cameron today urged all world leaders, including the pope, to respect the overwhelming 99.8 percent vote in this week's Falklands referendum in favour of remaining a British Overseas Territory.

In a reference to the method used by the Vatican to announce a decision on the identity of the new pope, he said: 'The white smoke over the Falklands was pretty clear.'

In a telephone call to Gavin Short, chairman of the Falklands Legislative Assembly, the Prime Minister said he was ‘over the moon’ with the result.

‘The Falkland islanders couldn’t have spoken more clearly,’ he said.

‘They want to remain British and that view should be respected by everybody, including by Argentina. It is the clearest possible result there could be.’

Nigel Haywood, governor of the Falkland Islands, said the vote was a ‘massive demonstration of the way the Falkland Islanders feel and of the way they see their future’.