CYPRUS: Cyprus yesterday began the elimination of all its anti-personnel mines with the ceremonial destruction of 30 devices at a testing range in the foothills of the Troodos mountains.
The event was presided over by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Dimitris Christofias, and attended by Ms Jody Williams, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her efforts to end the scourge of mines, and Mr Wolfgang Petrisch, president designate of the Ottawa Convention's Mine Free World summit scheduled to meet in Nairobi next year.
Cyprus began eliminating mines before the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty was drafted. Since 1983 it has destroyed more than 11,000 mines of various types and cleared 10 mine fields.
The Cyprus National Guard has 48,000 mines in storage, while 4,600 have been planted in 11 minefields in the buffer zone separating the Greek Cypriot south from the Turkish Cypriot north. The Turkish army has 27 minefields in the buffer zone, but has refused to join the de-mining campaign.
The mine clearance operation comes just 12 days before the Turkish Cypriots are set to vote in a critical parliamentary election.
Mr Sardar Denktash, head of the Turkish Cypriot Democratic Party, said yesterday that his party would win and would form a coalition with any party rejecting the UN plan for the reunification of the divided island.
Polls have predicted a win for three leftist opposition parties which accept the UN plan, and are eager for a settlement so that Turkish and Greek Cypriots can enter the European Union together on May 1st, 2004.