A White House statement said the United States will not seek to replace expiring stockpiles of landmines. The announcement was made in Maputo, Mozambique, by the US delegation attending a conference to review compliance with the Ottawa Convention, a global Mine Ban Treaty which became international law in 1999.
A 2008 United Nations report said each year landmines kill 15,000 to 20,000 people, and that most of them are children, women and the elderly.
The White House said the United States is pursuing solutions that would ultimately allow the United States to accede to the Ottawa Convention. REUTERS