Lebanon's cluster bomb lessons

Al Jazeera/Eng, here

"......Since the end of the war, more than 350 people in Lebanon have been killed or injured by unexploded cluster bombs acting as de facto land mines, and every month that figure slowly increases.

Terkiya lives in the village of West Zawtar, at the heart of a swathe of land south of the town of Nabatiyeh that was badly hit during the war.

Large areas of southern Lebanon became a no-go area as a result of the cluster bomb-strikes; farmers were cut off from their land and schools forced to close their playgrounds.

While more than half of this land has now been declared safe, de-mining progress is stalling. The crucial donations that pay for cluster bomb clearance are drying up as new crises deflect attention away from what has become "yesterday's war" and the global recession puts pressure on foreign aid budgets.

The result has been a dramatic cut in de-mining capacity in the country.

"In 2007 there were 114 clearance teams working here," says Lt Col Mohamed el Cheikh of the Lebanese Mine Action Centre (LMAC), a military body set up to co-ordinate the clearance with the various civilian de-mining agencies that work in the country. "At the beginning of this year we had 46 teams left. Now there are just 20."

At current capacity, LMAC estimates that it will take at least another three-and-a-half years to finish the job, although that time could be cut to just 18 months if new donations are made. ..."