Iraqi forces have used mines on the Kuwaiti border and in northern Iraq, on the road to Kirkuk, Stephen Goose, who coordinates ICBL's annual report, told a meeting of 120 experts from 70 countries in Rome.

"Iraq was already one of the most severely mine-affected countries before the war," although it is difficult to assess the extent of the problem in countries such as Iraq, Angola, Cambodia and Afghanistan, Goose said.

Neither the United States nor Britain have used mines in Iraq so far, he said, but they should speak out against them more clearly.

"Any use of mines by any (armed) force must be condemned. We think that the international community must outlaw antipersonnel mines and we haven't heard the Americans and the British say that," Goose said.

Retired general Fernando Termentini, a consultant with Italy's foreign ministry, slammed the use of cluster bombs in Iraq.

Between 15-20 percent of the contents of these munitions remain unexploded, scattered on the ground, Termentini said.

"They remain live, with a 150-metre (-yard) range, that is, a lot more than antipersonnel mines and because they are yellow, they attract the attention of children," he said.

Thousands of those unexploded bomblets are already lying on the ground, Termentini said.

ICBL called on the Italian government, which takes over the European Union's rotating presidency in July, to work in favour of a worldwide ban on landmines.

"Our goal is that all EU countries should have ratified, by 2004, the Ottawa treaty" banning anti-personnel mines, which 122 countries signed in 1997, said Simona Beltrami, the campaign's coordinator for Italy.

So far 132 countries have signed the treaty, but they do not include EU members Finland and Greece. Poland and the Baltic republics, which are due to join the Union in 2004, have not ratified it, she said.

SPACE.WIRE