In this story:

• Menem: 'The wounds have healed'
• Trade issues top agenda
• Britain grants exceptions to arms embargo
• Related stories and sites

LONDON (CNN) -- Argentine President Carlos Menem began a historic visit to Britain on Tuesday by saying he wanted better relations and would not press his country's claim to the Falkland Islands.

His six-day visit is the first by an Argentine leader to Britain since the two countries fought a 1982 war over the South Atlantic islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas.

Menem said he had already had many opportunities to discuss sovereignty over the islands and would now wait until dialogue on the subject could be reopened before pressing the matter.

Menem: 'The wounds have healed'

"There should be a much more fluid and positive relationship in all fields," Menem told reporters on arrival at his London hotel. "I think that to a certain extent the wounds have healed, but it is important to deal with this subject which was a cause of confrontation between us for so many years."

British troops remain in the Falklands 16 years after war with Argentina

Britain maintains 1,800 troops in the Falklands, 16 years after it took the islands back from Argentina by force.

Britain has made clear there will be no discussions on sovereignty of the islands during Menem's visit.

Trade issues top agenda

"We expect this visit to provide a further boost to the excellent commercial relationships Britain and Argentina enjoy," Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told parliament.

One commercial matter expected to be discussed -- control of resources in the seas surrounding the Falklands -- could overlap the issue of sovereignty.

Argentine draft legislation would require Argentine licenses to fish in waters around the islands and would demand royalties on oil and gas now being hunted around the Falklands seabed.

Menem will hold talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth, meet British investors and give a major speech on Anglo-Argentine relations during the visit.

He also will lay a wreath at the memorial to Britain's Falklands dead in St. Paul's Cathedral.

British and Argentine soldiers helped keep the peace in Cyprus

Simon Weston, a British veteran who was badly burned during the Falklands war, said he was happy that the Argentine leader came to Britain.

"It's about time," Weston said. "It's 16 years down the line. We can't keep rehashing conflicts of 1982."

At the time of the Falklands war, Menem was a political prisoner of the same military junta that invaded the Falklands.

Argentina's ambassador to Britain, Rogelio Pfirter, said he hoped the visit by Menem would open a new chapter in bilateral relations.

"It will represent a major contribution to reconciliation and friendship between Britain and the Argentines. It will help us to enhance existing cooperation, notably in the area of trade and investment," he told BBC radio.

He said Britain and Argentina both needed to put the war, which claimed 1,000 soldiers' lives, behind them.

"We should recognize that the war existed, but we should also recognize that we look at the future as modern nations and build the future together if possible," Pfirter said.

Britain grants exceptions to arms embargo

The British government said Tuesday it had recently granted two exceptions to its arms embargo against Argentina.

The first was a sale of 24 nuclear, biological and chemical protection suits and eight pairs of boots for use by the Argentine contingent of the U.N. task force in Kuwait.

The second was the export of 745 shotgun cartridges to an Argentine sporting goods retailer for use in hunting.

"These decisions represent exceptions, but not changes, to the embargo," said Baroness Symons, a junior Foreign Office minister, in a written parliamentary answer.

Britain says lifting the embargo altogether would be premature.

Correspondent Richard Blystone and Reuters contributed to this report.