Issue No. 609
Home news
Previous issue
Site map
|
|
24 - 30 October 2002 Issue No. 609 Home news |
Current issue Previous issue Site map | |
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
A lethal legacy
On the 60th anniversary of the Battle of El-Alamein, the Egyptian government has pledged to step up its efforts to rid the country of the battle's landmine legacy, writes Soha Abdelaty
By some estimates, Egypt has more landmines than any other country in the world. Egyptian territory is estimated to be home to one fifth of the world's landmines. Regardless of its international ranking, the fact remains that since the Battle of El-Alamein in 1942, and owing to subsequent conflicts between Egypt and Israel between 1948 and 1973, Egypt has been plagued by the presence of 22 million landmines on its territory. Of these, the Egyptian Army Engineers corps has been able to remove only three million. More than 7,000 Egyptians have been injured and around 700 killed by landmines.
Click to view captionGerman soldiers planting landmines in the Western Desert Front during World War II At the most recent meeting of the National De-Mining Committee -- on 13 October -- headed by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Fayza Abul-Naga, work continued on drawing up a comprehensive plan to rid the affected areas of mines. The plan sub-divides the overall task of the total removal of landmines into smaller projects that can be presented to interested international donors.
Landmines in Egypt are concentrated in the Western Desert, the Sinai Peninsula and areas near the Suez Canal and the eastern coast of the Red Sea. Removal of the mines is a costly process that requires technical expertise and specialised equipment. Egypt has, over the years, insisted that this is the responsibility of the countries that planted them -- namely Britain and Germany.
Although Britain and Germany have declined to undertake full responsibility for the removal of the mines, they have offered Egypt maps and data pinpointing the location of minefields. But according to Egyptian officials, this information is inadequate, owing to ground erosion which has caused the mines to shift location and, at times, the inaccuracy of the maps and data.
In the meantime, little, if any, progress has been made in ridding the country of the scourge.
Two years ago, however, the Egyptian government changed its strategy, forming the National De-Mining Committee in April 2000. The body includes representatives from 15 ministries, among them the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Agriculture. It also has representatives from the governorates where the mines are located, local and international NGOs and various United Nations bodies.
"Egypt first demanded that the countries [that planted the mines] come and remove the landmines," a diplomatic source told Al-Ahram Weekly. "It took some time and dialogue between Egypt and the international community to realise that it will not be done automatically, but through projects," the source continued. With this new focus, Egyptian officials embarked upon designing projects for the areas. The Western Desert is the government's first priority because it is the area with the most mines.
"The first phase [of the plan] will concentrate on the development of the north-west coast area. This is extremely important to Egypt because of development projects in these areas," explained Abul-Naga.
The first step in these endeavours would obviously be to clear away the mines, but this is not their only aim. "Removing the landmines is only part of the projects," explained one Egyptian official. The projects, diplomatic sources said, include land reclamation and the relocation of Bedouins in the areas.
The Egyptian government estimates that it has lost about $400 billion over the years due to idle resources in an area of about half a million feddans whose use has been hampered by the presence of landmines. The government estimates that to rid the entire country of mines would cost approximately $250 million.
As the committee continues to work on a comprehensive plan, it is discussing the creation of a secretariat to follow up on its recommendations. Abul-Naga, who took over the committee in June, said that she hoped to present the strategy to the cabinet by next year.
In the meantime, Abul-Naga said, "We have actually contacted several countries on the bilateral level for de-mining efforts. Topping the list are Germany, Italy and Britain, and they have displayed great willingness for cooperation, whether with financial, technical assistance, or human expertise."
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the US government have also indicated their interest in providing support.
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: weekly.ahram.org.eg Updated every Thursday at 20.00 GMT, 10 pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
