Princess Diana fund urges Britain not to break land
mine treaty in Iraq
London, UK, Jan. 15, 2003 (AP)

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund urged the government Wednesday not to violate the international land mine treaty by allowing the United States to stockpile the weapons on any British territories.

The fund said that in case of war against Iraq, Britain, which has signed the anti-landmine treaty, should not let America, which has not, store land mines on Diego Garcia, a British territory, or deploy aircraft carrying the weapons from the Indian Ocean island.

The Ministry of Defense said it would not allow any land mines to be stored on or transferred through Diego Garcia. A U.S. military base on the island was an important staging post during the Afghanistan (news - web sites) war. “We are very clear that such an action would leave the U.K. in breach of its obligations under the Ottowa Convention (against land mine use), to which we are firmly committed,” said a spokeswoman.

The late princess campaigned against the use of land mines because of their impact on civilians.The fund also urged Britain not to use cluster bombs in any war against Iraq.

The bombs are not banned under the 1997 treaty that bars the production, sale and use of land mines, but the Diana fund and the anti-mine group Landmine Action said their use would seriously undermine any claims that Britain and America were serious about avoiding unnecessary civilian casualties.

The Ministry of Defense spokeswoman said it would be up to military commanders to decide whether to use cluster bombs, but that if they did they would seek to minimize the hazards for civilians.

America dropped cluster bombs on Afghanistan. They can contain more than 200 small bomblets, which sometimes fail to explode and then sit in place until someone accidentally sets them off.

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