Land mine ban makes progress

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Global use of antipersonnel land mines dropped significantly in the past year, according to the latest annual report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

The 826-page "Landmine Monitor Report 2003" identified six governments (India, Iraq, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Russia) that used antipersonnel land mines from May 2002 to May 2003. That was down from nine in the previous reporting period and 13 the period before that.

The report said Iraqi forces laid antipersonnel mines before and during the 2003 conflict, but there was no indication that U.S. or other coalition forces used them.

Funding for land-mine clearance increased by 30 percent in the past year and a number of countries reported significant gains in clearing land affected by mines and unexploded ordnance.

There have been no significant exports of antipersonnel mines since the mid-1990s, when the United Nations adopted a resolution urging a ban on all international trade in those weapons.

Countries that have now ratified or acceded to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty number 136. The United States has not signed. Of the 65 countries that reported land-mine casualties in 2002, 41 were at peace. Only 15 percent of casualties were military personnel.

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