Morocco has been working to neutralize land mines placed in its southern provinces by the Polisario separatists. To all intents and purposes, not quite 66,000 land mines have been disarmed by the Kingdom. In this year alone, nearly 50,000 land mines and active projectiles have been neutralized.
Moroccan Ambassador,Mohamed Mael-Ainin, lead a delegation to the 8th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. Morocco has not yet ratified the provisions of the Ottawa Convention, but it supports the principles and efforts of the international community to ban land mines.
Morocco has been represented at all the sessions of the Convention as an observer. Morocco considers this a step in the disarmament process needed for a peaceful and secure world. This country considers joining in the Mine Ban Treaty an important step in reaching a final settlement in the dispute over the Western Sahara and security for its southern provinces.
The most comprehensive document dealing with getting rid of anti-personnel mines is The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction.
by Carole Morris
