A billion-dollar inheritance, a swaggering media conglomerate, newspaper rivalry, an incompetent government rankling over criticism, the open sores of past savage political oppression – and DNA tests. It’s the stuff of chunky airport novels and the biggest political story in Argentina.

At the height of Argentina’s dirty war in the 1970s, Marcela and Felipe Noble Herrera were adopted by Ernestina Herrera de Noble, owner of the Clarin media conglomerate. Mrs Herrera de Noble, now 84, says that the two heirs of the Clarin Group, which controls Argentina's largest newspaper and cable network, and one of the largest television stations, were foundlings left on her doorstep.

Advocates for victims of the military junta which “disappeared” thousands of its left-wing foes, especially the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, say that Marcela and Felipe could be two of the 400 children of los desaparecidos who have still not been accounted for. To get closure on the issue, they insist that the two should have DNA tests to determine their parentage. In December Marcela and Felipe gave blood samples to a private lab which matched their DNA against two families. But they refused to give samples to the government because, they said, the matching process was politically tainted.

The Clarin group’s outlets have been harsh critics of the incumbent president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, so the issue has become politically polarised. If the children are the offspring of victims of the dirty war, it is even possible that Ernestina could be jailed.

Last year the government passed a law authorising compulsory DNA testing in cases relating to crimes against humanity (as well as a law which could be used to break up the Clarin group). On May 28, police raided the home of Marcela and Felipe, strip-searched them, and seized underwear and toothbrushes for DNA sampling. It will be several weeks before the results are known.

The highly emotional case raises interesting questions. "Our identity is ours. It's a private thing and I don't think it's up to the state or the Grandmothers to come and tell us what is ours," Ms Herrera has said. She told AP: "There is not a single concrete fact showing that we were taken from the junta's imprisoned enemies."

She acknowledged that she might have to deal with surprises about her past. But her brother was more detached. "Whatever the result, for me it's just one more sheet of paper, one more fact in my desk," Mr Herrera said. ~ Independent, June 8; LA Times, June 9; Christian Science Monitor, June 7