(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-23 15:12

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina will not buy F-16 fighters from the United States as the latter slandered the Argentine government, said the Defense Ministry on Saturday.

A U.S. F-16 fighter approaches a KC-135R, Stratotanker, for air refueling during a patrol over a no-fly zone over northern Iraq near Turkey-Iraq border in this June 19, 2001 file photo. [Agencies]

The negotiation between Argentina and the United States on the purchase of fighters was suspended, said a spokesman for the ministry.

Argentina will rely mainly on its own efforts to improve the airforce's fighting capacity through strengthening the maintenance and repair of its current fighters, said the spokesman.