(With Photos) KHARTOUM, April 1 (KUNA) -- UN mission in Sudan announced Tuesday that international peace-keeping forces in Southern Sudan have disabled 6,186 anti-personnel landmines in the Alluri area, 35 km west of the city of Juba.
This de-mining operation is the first of its kind in the history of Southern Sudan and is the precursor to the imperative that no war will erupt again between the North and the South, said minister of internal security in Southern Sudan Paul Mioum.
With the destruction of the landmines in the Alluri area, Sudan would be virtually devoid of anti-personnel landmines, said Landmine eradication director Awadh al-Bashir, adding that so far 14,485 anti-personnel landmines have been disabled in conflict-stricken regions of the country.
All efforts in clearing these landmines, he said, had been carried out by the federal Sudanese government in conjunction with the UN and the government of South Sudan. These efforts also reflect Sudan's abidance by the international Ottawa Agreement on Landmine Eradication, he explained. Sudan is a member of that Agreement.
On January 2005, the rebel group known as the popular movement for the liberation of Sudan, no longer extant, signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government to put an end to 22 years of civil war between them which resulted in the death and displacement of nearly two million people and the existence of thousands of anti-personnel landmines. (end) hhi.ajs KUNA 012336 Apr 08NNNN