Ali condemns mine manufacturers

By Charles Etukuri

The First Deputy Prime Minister and disaster preparedness minister has blasted Europeans for making landmines.

Lt. Gen. Moses Ali said landmine manufacturers should be taken to the Hague and tried as criminals.

Presiding over the UN Mines Awareness Day and the official opening of the Mine Action Centre at the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday, Ali said, “The Europeans should be blamed for the landmines and the resultant causalities. If we were left to fight using our own crude weapons, we would not be having the magnitude of causalities we have today.”

Ali wondered why the manufactures were not being punished. “You are taking Charles Taylor (former Liberian President) to the Hague. What about yourselves?” he asked.

He said April 4 was a sad day and the UN should hold the landmine manufactures liable for the welfare of the survivors.

Referring to the 59 Police and army officers who trained in de-mining, Ali said, “You train many people how to de-mine. What about the casualties? We don’t want to train people on victims; we must stop the perpetrators.”

The UNDP Resident Representative, Cornelis Klein, however, differed with Ali over holding the manufacturers liable.

Speaking to journalists after the occasion, Klein said, “We should not only punish the manufacturers but even the buyers. There can never be manufacturers without buyers.”