Britain’s Falkland Islands are to hold a referendum on their "political status" - hoping to bring an end to the continuing dispute with Argentina over the islands' sovereignty, their government said Tuesday.

Britain and Argentina in 1982 went to war over the South Atlantic islands, and 30 years later tensions have escalated between the two nations.

Cristina Fernandez, Argentina's president, has asserted her country's claims to the islands - known in Spanish as Las Malvinas – and has asked for negotiations with Britain to end their “colonial” control from London.

The referendum is expected to take place in the first half of 2013. 

Read more on this story at ITV News

Gavin Short, chairman of the Legislative Assembly for the Falkland Islands, said he hoped a referendum would indicate islanders are "certain" about their future.

Mr Short said: “I have no doubt that the people of the Falklands wish for the islands to remain a self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom.

“We certainly have no desire to be ruled by the government in Buenos Aires, a fact that is immediately obvious to anyone who has visited the islands and heard our views.”

Will Prince William's tour of duty reignite simmering Falklands dispute?

Britain’s Foreign Office Minister, Jeremy Browne, who is visiting the islands, said: “Only the Falkland Islands people can determine how they wish to be governed, so I very much support this initiative by the Falkland Islands government. Indeed, I believe this referendum is a truly significant moment.”

The islands are 7,780 miles from the UK and 1,140 miles from Buenos Aires. They have been under British control since 1833 apart from during the brief conflict.

The Falkland Islands conflict lasted 74 days in 1982.

ITV News is the UK partner of NBC News.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Greek politician who attacked rivals on TV sues victims for defamation
• Germany grows weary of being Europe's crutch
• Syrian forces shell towns, clash with rebels
• NBC News: Egypt's ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak slips into coma
• Reports: UK PM David Cameron leaves 8-year-old daughter in pub
• Chinese activists: You can't 'suicide' us

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

Argentina’s government plans to lodge a complaint with the United Nations over “militarization” of the South Atlantic, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announced on Tuesday.

"Malvinas is no longer an Argentine cause, it's now a Latin American cause, a global cause," Fernandez said, calling the Falkland Islands by the name they're known by in Argentina.

Fernandez said she wants peace with in the region and "democracy and sovereignty" in the islands, according to an English translation published by the Buenos Aires Herald.

Argentina’s planned complaint to the United Nations assembly was first reported on a Twitter post by the BBC.

Prince William flies first Falklands sortie for RAF stint

Fernandez also said she would sign a decree declassifying a secret military-era report about the 1982 Falklands War. A government panel will review the Rattenbach Report, which is said to outline mistakes made by the junta at the time of the bloody conflict. The panel will decide what can remain classified, she said.

Fernandez spoke before a diverse assembly of government and union leaders in a nationally televised address.

British diplomat: Argentina may block flights to Falklands

The announcement came as tension was resurfacing between Britain and Argentina over sovereignty of the British-ruled islands off the South American continent.

Britain has rankled Argentina on the 30^th anniversary of a war by sending one of its most-advanced naval vessels, the HMS Dauntless destroyer, on a mission there. And on Saturday, Britain's Prince William took to the skies over the Falklands in his first sortie as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot.

Argentina to UK: Prince arriving dressed as 'conquistador'

For its part, the Argentine government has been critical of British actions. The Argentine foreign minister called Prince Williams appearance in the Falklands, as if he was arriving as a “conquistador.”

On Tuesday, Argentina, which owns the rights to the country’s wildly popular first-division soccer league matches, named the upcoming season in honor a naval ship sunk by British torpedoes during the conflict.

During the 74-day Falkland war, 649 Argentines and 257 Britons died. The war humiliated the military government and paved the way for Argentina’s return to democracy.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Flag-waving Syrians welcome Russian envoy
• 'Death to Christians': Suspected Jewish extremists deface monastery
• Taliban lite? Afghans ponder power-sharing
• Why do Dickens characters still resonate 200 years on?