A Change of Guard

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Wednesday 30 November 2011

Myanmar sparks hope for dialogue at landmine meet


A victim of a landmine explosion holds his prosthetic leg (AFP/File, Eitan Abramovich)

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Myanmar's rare participation in a global anti-landmine summit on Tuesday was hailed by campaigners as a sign that the country was ready for dialogue on its stubborn use of the deadly weapons.

In its maiden address to delegates at the annual meeting, attended by over 100 nations and held in the Cambodian capital this week, Myanmar defended the use of landmines but said the issue deserved "careful consideration".

Myanmar "believes that the legitimate right of every state to self-defence in matters of its national security must be recognised and respected," said U Win Naing, deputy director-general of Myanmar's foreign affairs ministry.

Campaigners said that while the statement itself revealed "nothing new", the fact that Myanmar spoke at all was significant.

"We hope it's a little first step that can open the door to a dialogue," Kasia Derlicka, director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), told AFP.

The week-long Phnom Penh gathering is a chance for the 158 states that have joined the 1997 anti-personnel mine ban convention to take stock of the eradication of the weapons.

Myanmar has not signed the treaty but is attending as an observer.

"We understand Myanmar is not ready to sign the treaty but we'd like to see interim steps such as renouncing landmines, engaging in landmine education, mine clearance and victim assistance, all of which is almost non-existent," said Derlicka.

The country has been plagued by decades of civil war between government forces and ethnic minority rebels and both sides continue to lay the deadly explosives, according to ICBL.

"We should be optimistic that Myanmar has come to hear how the vast majority of the world's states feel about this weapon," said organiser Kerry Brinkert, director of the convention's secretariat.

"We are hopeful that Myanmar's participation this week is an expression of openness on the part of Myanmar to enter into a dialogue with the states parties on the question of anti-personnel mines," he added.

Myanmar's leaders began a new round of peace talks with several ethnic groups this month amid tentative signs of change in the repressive state as it seeks to improve its standing internationally.

It was the only country recorded as laying new landmines last year, but ICBL said it has since been joined by Israel, Syria and Libya, bringing the current global use of landmines to its highest level since 2004.

Meanwhile, Burundi told summit delegates on Monday it had cleared its territory of landmines, becoming the 18th state party to do so.

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