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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Former military dictator Leopoldo F. Galtieri, who in 1982 led Argentina into the Falkland Islands war against Britain then af ter his rule was prosecuted for human rights abuses under the regime, died S unday. He was 76. Galtieri, who suffered from pancreatic cancer, was admitt ed Saturday to the Central Military Hospital in Buenos Aires. He died of hea rt failure, hospital officials said Sunday. The general became president in November 1981, the third of four presidents under the iron-fisted military regime that came to power in 1976. With the Argentine economy faltering, Ga ltieri tried to tried to rally popular support for the regime by ordering Ar gentine troops to invade the Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982, saying Argen tina had inherited the British territory from Spain. A 78-day war followed, during which more than 700 Argentines and 255 British were killed in and ar ound the islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. After Argentina was defeated, the military forced Galtieri to resign in June 1982. The swift Argentine de feat hastened the fall of the military dictatorship and the restoration of d emocracy, prompting a still unresolved process of how to prosecute the milit ary for their alleged abuses. For years, Galtieri lived in virtual seclusio n in a Buenos Aires suburb before a federal judge indicted him last year and ordered him placed under house arrest for allegedly taking part in the abdu ction, torture and execution of 20 leftist guerillas during the military dic tatorship. His case was the latest in a renewed effort by Argentine human r ights groups to bring the former junta leaders to justice for alleged human rights abuses during the so-called Dirty War. Galtieri was charged along wi th 42 other military and state security officials accused of widespread atro cities, including allegedly kidnapping and arranging the adoption of childre 34508