Colombia has requested a more than four-year extension under the Ottawa Treaty for removing landmines from across the country, the High Peace Commissioner's office said on Monday.
The 164 signatory countries to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) agreed on Friday to accelerate the work to achieve the goal of a “mine-free” world in 2025, Norway's foreign ministry said.
Argentina and Chile defense ministers, Agustín Rossi and Jorge Burgos, attended this week a historic ceremony in which they signed a document declaring Tierra del Fuego free of anti-personal mines. During the meeting minister Rossi blamed the UK for not allowing Argentina to clear the mines in the Falklands/Malvinas Islands.
Defence officials from Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Argentina will be participating in a high level meeting to coordinate efforts for the elimination of anti-personnel mines which still remain in border fields of the four countries involved.