MINISTER: DEMINING IN CROATIA SHOULD BE ACCELERATED

ZADAR, Sept 1 (Hina) - A delegation of prominent international anti-landmine activists, headed by Croatian Labour and Welfare Minister and president of the Croatian Mine Action Centre (HCR), Davorko Vidovic, on Saturday visited Bibinjsko Polje, a farming area near the southern Croatian town of Zadar. The delegation included Jody Williams, ambassador of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and 1997 Nobel peace prize winner, and the president of the US "Roots of Peace" association, Heidi Kuhn. Not waiting for their land to be demined, local residents are working on their land in Bibinjsko Pole and exposing themselves to the danger of mines, which is why Croatia's demining project, initially organised to last 10 years, should be accelerated to a maximum degree, Vidovic said, thanking Williams and Kuhn for their visit. Kuhn said the "Roots of Peace" would finance the demining of 65,000 square metres of Bibinjsko Polje, while Williams said her aim was to see the job of demining finished as soon as possible. HCR director Damir Gorseta said that nine people were killed and another nine were severely wounded in mine explosions in the area of Bibinje municipality. So far, 50 percent of the entire area of Bibinjsko Polje has been demined and another 400,000 square metres remain to be cleared of mines, Gorseta said, expressing hope donors would help demine the entire area. An advisor on anti-mine action to Croatia's Foreign Minister, Diana Plestina, said this project was one among 35 projects of demining farming land in Croatia, which could be used for the production of healthy food. (hina) rml