U.S. plans to join anti-landmine treaty

Washington has 9 million weapons in stockpile

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Friday that the United States will no longer produce or acquire anti-personnel landmines and plans to join an international treaty banning their use.

Human rights advocates have long pushed the United States to join 161 other countries in signing the 15-year-old Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of the mines.

Former president Bill Clinton had a goal of joining the treaty, but the Bush administration pulled back amid objections from military leaders.

President Barack Obama ordered a review of the U.S. policy when he came to office five years ago, and a U.S. delegation to a conference in Maputo, Mozambique, announced the result Friday.

“Our delegation in Maputo made clear that we are diligently pursuing solutions that would be compliant with and ultimately allow the United States to accede to the Ottawa Convention,” a National Security Council spokeswoman, Caitlin Hayden, said.

Steve Goose, head of delegation for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, said the U.S. announcement is some progress, since in the past the U.S. has always reserved the right to produce more landmines. He also said it’s a positive change for U.S. officials to say they intend to join the treaty, although he noted there’s no guarantee or timeline for doing so.

Also, he said, the U.S. could still use its stockpile, which he estimates at about nine million landmines in storage around the world.