Landmine treaty being ignored, 5,400 killed or injured in 2007: report

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15 countries including Britain will miss their 2009 landmine clearance targets
Last Updated: Friday, November 21, 2008 | 12:15 PM ET Comments19Recommend9
CBC News

Greece, Turkey and Belarus continue to violate an international treaty by not destroying their stock of landmines, according to a report that says more than 5,400 people were killed or maimed by landmines last year ...

The ICBL, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, said that while Denmark, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, Britain and Venezuela, are seeking more time to clear their mined areas, de-mining operations should have been finished by now.

But Britain has not even begun mine-sweeping in the Falkland Islands, where it fought a war with Argentina in 1982, while Venezuela has said it gains some benefit from mines that keep Colombian guerrillas off its territory, Casey-Maslen said.

Greece and Turkey have a combined stockpile of 4.2 million anti-personnel mines, and Belarus has 3.4 million yet to be destroyed under the Ottawa Convention, which regulates the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and monitors their destruction.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/11/21/landmine.html

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1. The ICBL, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, said that while Denmark, Ecuador, Nicarag

The ICBL, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, said that while Denmark, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, Britain and Venezuela, are seeking more time to clear their mined areas, de-mining operations should have been finished by now.

But Britain has not even begun mine-sweeping in the Falkland Islands, where it fought a war with Argentina in 1982, while Venezuela has said it gains some benefit from mines that keep Colombian guerrillas off its territory, Casey-Maslen said.

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2. Several countries remain in violation of land mine treaty (Reuters)

... China, Russia and the United States - the countries with the largest mine stockpiles - remain outside the pact ... http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/21/europe/mines.php