Chile buys new submarines

Chile has signed a contract worth about four-hundred-million dollars to buy two advanced submarines from a Franco-Spanish consortium.

The deal is part of a programme of modernisation of Chile's armed forces which has been criticized by neighbouring Argentina.

The submarines are to be delivered at the beginning of the next century.

Earlier this year officials from across Latin America called for a moratorium on advanced weapons sales to the region to avoid the possibility of a regional arms race.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service