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 BAGHDAD (AP) - The Iraqi government's failure to grasp the scope of its land mine and bomb problem has derailed efforts to clear what is considered one of the world's most contaminated countries, two United Nations agencies said Wednesday.
The government has banned all civilian land-mine clearance because of military fears that the old weapons will wind up in the hands of militants. That has threatened Iraq's chances of meeting its internationally mandated obligation to clear the country of land mines and unexploded remnants of war by 2018.
"They are in the same league as Afghanistan in terms of saturation," said Kent Paulusson, the United Nations Development Fund's senior mine action adviser for Iraq during a presentation Wednesday. "The government needs to recognize the size of the problem and deal with it."
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