WEDNESDAY, 3.30PM
A SOUTH African Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Nzo formally signed an international convention banning anti-personnel mines in Ottawa, Canada, on Wednesday.
Nzo, who came under criticism last year for hedging over the landmine ban, has since become a convert, praising those who lobbied to make the landmine convention a reality. South Africa was among the first countries to sign the convention.
Nzo said at the signing ceremony: “Today, as we stand here, we should also honour and remember the tens of thousands of mine victims and affirm that their needs will not be forgotten.”
ANGOLA’S rebel movement Unita is replanting mines along highways that were recently cleared of mines, says the United Nations. Nine mines are reported to have exploded in recent weeks on roads leading to Unita headquarters in Andulo, in the south of the country. The UN, which says Unita has replanted the mines because they fear attack by the government, has confirmation of three deaths from the mines, but believes there may be more.