A government vowing to press for greater independence from Denmark has been formed in Greenland, following elections last week.

Greenland should be able to make international deals in issues regarding the country's interests

Government statement

The two governing parties are the left-leaning Siumut party and Inuit Atagatigiit (Inuit Brotherhood) who between them hold 18 out of 31 seats in the parliament.

Greenland has been semi-autonomous since 1979, but Denmark remains in charge of foreign and defence policy for the 56,000 islanders.

The new government has adopted a 26-point programme, which pledges to push for greater autonomy in foreign affairs, and to hold a referendum on full independence in 2005.

Defence

It also wants to renegotiate the terms of a 1951 defence deal between Denmark and the United States, which established four rent-free US bases on the islands.

All have since been closed except Thule, in the north of the island, which the US wants to upgrade as part of its plans for a missile defence shield.

"Greenland should be able to make international deals in issues regarding the country's interests," the new governing parties said.

"Greenland's interests should be secured through a change of Denmark's agreement with the United States from 1951 regarding the defence of Greenland."

The Cold War deal was struck without any input from Greenland, which was a Danish colony until it became a dependent territory in 1953.

New PM

The new government will be headed by Siumut party leader Hans Enoksen, aged 46, while Inuit Brotherhood leader Josef Motzfeldt, aged 61, becomes minister of finance and of foreign affairs.

Mr Enoksen, who speaks only Greenlandic, takes over from a Lutheran priest, Jonathan Motzfeldt (a distant relation of Josef's), who spearheaded efforts in the 1970s that led to Greenland's gaining semi-autonomous status.

Jonathan Motzfeldt has headed every Greenland government since 1979, except for a period of six years in the 1990s.

Denmark has recently let Inuit parliamentarians participate in international meetings, but only as observers in the Danish delegation.