GENEVA: Greece, Turkey and Belarus have all violated an international treaty by not destroying land mine stockpiles, and 15 other countries, including Britain, will miss their 2009 clearance targets, a coalition of monitors said Friday. The coalition, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, said that more than 5,400 people were killed or maimed last year by antipersonnel mines, cluster munitions and other ordnance that can lie dormant for decades before exploding. In its 1,155-page Landmine Monitor Report, the coalition of nongovernmental groups said that while trade in land mines was now "virtually nonexistent," many countries were moving too slowly to get rid of the crippling weapons. Denmark, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, Britain and Venezuela, which are among those seeking more time to clear their mined areas, should all have finished by now, said the ICBL, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
GENEVA: Greece, Turkey and Belarus have all violated an international treaty by not destroying land mine stockpiles, and 15 other countries, including Britain, will miss their 2009 clearance targets, a coalition of monitors said Friday.
The coalition, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, said that more than 5,400 people were killed or maimed last year by antipersonnel mines, cluster munitions and other ordnance that can lie dormant for decades before exploding.
In its 1,155-page Landmine Monitor Report, the coalition of nongovernmental groups said that while trade in land mines was now "virtually nonexistent," many countries were moving too slowly to get rid of the crippling weapons.
Denmark, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, Britain and Venezuela, which are among those seeking more time to clear their mined areas, should all have finished by now, said the ICBL, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
