Britain to start clearing mines on Falklands
GENEVA (AP) — Britain will start next year to clear land mines left by Argentina on the Falkland Islands, a British ambassador said Friday.
Ambassador John Duncan said Britain committed to a U.N. conference on the treaty banning the weapons that it will begin the clearing of the estimated 16,000 mines left on the islands.
"By the time we’ve completed the tender process and appointed someone to do the mine clearance, it will probably be this time next year before they could start," Duncan told The Associated Press.
The mines were planted by Argentina which invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982, then lost a brief war with British forces. Britain also laid mines on the island, but those were subsequently removed Britain has a 10-year deadline to clear all the Falkland mines under the treaty, Duncan said, adding that it will report every year to the U.N. conference on progress made. The new deadline is an extension from the 2009 deadline under the treaty that Britain previously said it would miss.
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The mines were planted by Argentina which invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982, then lost a brief war with British forces. Britain also laid mines on the island, but those were subsequently removed Britain has a 10-year deadline to clear all the Falkland mines under the treaty, Duncan said, adding that it will report every year to the U.N. conference on progress made. The new deadline is an extension from the 2009 deadline under the treaty that Britain previously said it would miss.
Britain has been criticized by other countries and campaigners for taking so long to start the clearance.
"Under great pressure from states parties over the course of the week, the U.K. made major concessions, " said Steve Goose, arms control director of New York-based Human Rights Watch.
The status of the Falklands remains hotly disputed by Argentina, which maintains its claim to sovereignty over the South Atlantic territory.
"We have been working with Argentina over the past two years to try and find out how we’re going to do this," said Duncan. The joint study "took a long time because of course it is a sovereignty question," he added.
"There was a lot of misunderstanding about what was the U.K.’s intention," Duncan said, adding that countries did not understand Britain was serious about starting the clearance.
