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Table of Contents
Country Reports
Libya, Landmine Monitor Report 2004

Libya

Key developments since May 2003: In March 004, a Libyan official stated for the first time that the country has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, and claimed that it has no stockpile of antipersonnel mines. A new NGO called Anti-mines Organization was established in early 2004.

Key developments since 1999: Libya has abstained from voting on every annual pro-ban UN General Assembly resolution since 1998, but it has participated in most Mine Ban Treaty meetings. There is no national budget or coordination body for mine action in Libya, but reportedly some mine clearance is carried out every year by the civil defense authority and the Army. In 2002, Italy initially allocated €2.5 million to Libya for mine clearance operations, but Italy reports the money was reallocated when Libya did not meet the deadline to provide information on how the money would be used.

Mine Ban Policy

Libya Arab Jamahiriya (Libya) has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In April 2004, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeated the government’s long-held position that Libya encourages those countries that can join the treaty to do so, but it cannot at this time because the treaty does not take into consideration the financial and technical difficulty of mine clearance for developing countries, nor does it consider the security concerns of countries with large border areas that do not have other means of protection.[1] He added that there is an urgent need to ensure that the primary responsibility of mine clearance falls on the groups who have laid the landmines, rather than on the countries that are contaminated with mines.[2]

Libya has abstained from voting on every annual pro-ban UN General Assembly resolution since 1998, including UNGA Resolution 58/53 on 8 December 2003. It was absent from the votes in 1996 and 1997. In explaining its abstention in 1999, a Libyan representative stated that Libya “opposed the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of landmines, but viewed the Ottawa Convention as only a first step.”[3]

Still, Libya has taken an active interest in the Mine Ban Treaty. Libya participated in the Ottawa Process leading to the Mine Ban Treaty as an observer and has since attended every annual meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, with the exception of 2001. It has also attended most sessions of the intersessional Standing Committees, including in February 2004. In April 2004, Libya attended a regional seminar on military and humanitarian issues surrounding the treaty in Amman, Jordan. In January 2002, it participated in a regional landmines meeting held in Tunisia. The ICBL, Canada, and others continue to urge Libya to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty.[4]

Libya is not a member of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) or its Amended Protocol II on landmines, but it views this agreement as more appropriate than the Mine Ban Treaty and attended the Fifth Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in November 2003.[5]

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use

In March 2004, a Libyan official stated for the first time that the country has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, and that it currently has no stockpile of antipersonnel mines.[6] Landmine Monitor has reported in the past that Libya was not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines, but was assumed to have a stockpile. Libya is known to have imported mines from the former Soviet Union, including POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M antipersonnel fragmentation mines.[7] Libya has not made available any information about possible destruction of those mines. In January 2002, Libyan officials told Landmine Monitor that possessing, using, or transferring explosives, including antipersonnel mines, is forbidden by and punishable under the Libyan penal code.[8]

Libya planted mines during its 1977 war with Egypt and from 1977 to 1987 during its border conflict with Chad. It has laid landmines around both economically important sites and military bases. Libya has stated that its mine problem results from World War II, and is “not due to internal or civil wars.”[9]

Landmine Problem and Mine Action

According to the Ministry of Defense, the areas most affected by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) are Bir Hakim in the south and Toubrouk, El Ghazala, Agdabiah, Al’Ougilaa, and Benghazi in the north.[10] According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, landmines and UXO have negatively affected development projects in Toubrouk and elsewhere, raised the costs of petroleum discovery and production expenses because of the clearance costs, and also affected the planning for infrastructure, grazing, and industrial projects.[11] Officials estimate that there are between 1.5 million and 3 million landmines emplaced in Libya, but there have been no surveys of the mine problem.[12] Most of the minefields are not marked.[13] Antipersonnel mines remaining from World War II hostilities are believed to be those manufactured and used by Germany (S-Type bounding fragmentation mine), Italy (B-5 mine), and the United Kingdom (Mk.2 mine).[14]

There is no national budget or coordination body for mine action in Libya. The Ministries of Defense and Justice and the Libyan Jihad Center have responsibility for various aspects of the mine issue.[15] A new NGO called Anti-mines Organization was established in early 2004. It is part of the Gadhafi foundation for charity organizations.[16]

According to a military official, some mine clearance is carried out every year by the civil defense authority and the engineering corps of the Army, but the results of this demining are not made public.[17] In 1999, Libya stated that it provides mine awareness and training programs to warn people of the dangers of mines, but no further information is available.[18]

In 2002, Italy allocated €2.5 million to Libya for mine clearance operations. The money was reallocated to Angola and Bosnia, however, when Libya did not meet the deadline to provide information on how the money would be used.[19]

In March 2004, Libyan officials met with Virgin Group, a British company, to discuss plans to invest up to $36 million in the company’s project, coordinated by the Mineseeker Foundation, to build airships that can locate landmines.[20] The airships would reportedly be able to survey 100 square meters of land per second.[21]

Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance

A Foreign Ministry official told Landmine Monitor that there have been mine and UXO casualties in Libya, but that there is no mechanism in place to collect data.[22] According to reports compiled by the Libyan police, 11,845 landmine casualties were recorded between 1940 and 1995, including 6,749 people killed and 5,096 injured.[23]

Libya offers medical care in public hospitals free of charge to all its citizens. All persons with disabilities, including mine and UXO survivors, receive medical care and rehabilitation in specialized hospitals, access to social support facilities, and assistance in accessing employment opportunities.[24] In 2000, it was reported that Italy had agreed in 1998 to provide several types of assistance, including the construction of a mine injury hospital in Libya, in cooperation with the Italian Red Cross and the Libyan Red Cross, and to provide treatment for mine survivors in Italy when necessary.[25] However, despite extensive enquiries by Landmine Monitor in Italy no further information is available.


[1] Statement by Libya, Amman Seminar on Military and Humanitarian Issues Surrounding the Ottawa Convention, Amman, 20 April 2004. See also interview with Almabrouk Mohamed Milad, Director of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 12 February 2004.
[2] In particular, Libya has stated that Italy should pay compensation for the injuries its landmines have caused to Libyan citizens. See “Libyan parliament issues statement on WMD, terrorism, Europe, insults to Libya,” Jana News Agency (Libya), 7 March 2004; Salah Serrar, “UPDATE 2-Berlusconi to mediate between Bush and Gaddafi,” Reuters, 10 February 2004.
[3] Explanation of vote by Libya, UNGA First Committee, Press Release GA/DIS/3162, 8 November 1999.
[4] Interview with Almabrouk Mohamed Milad, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 February 2004.
[5] Ibid, 15 May 2003.
[6] Interview with Col. Ali Alahrash, Ministry of Defense, Geneva, 16 March 2004.
[7] Jane’s Mines and Mine Clearance, Third Edition 1998-99, Jane’s Information Group, p. 603.
[8] Interview with members of Libyan delegation to Tunis regional seminar, 16 January 2002.
[9] UNGA Press Release (GA/9833), 28 November 2000, p. 10.
[10] Interview with Col. Ali Alahrash, Ministry of Defense, 16 March 2004.
[11] Interview with Mabrouk Mohamed Milad, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 May 2003.
[12] Ibid, 12 February 2004.
[13] Interview with Col. Ali Alahrash, Ministry of Defense, 16 March 2004.
[14] Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, The White Book, “Some Examples of the Damages Caused by the Belligerents of the World War II to the People of the Jamahiriya.”
[15] Interview with Mabrouk Mohamed Milad, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 May 2003.
[16] Email from Hakim Amri, Assistant Director of Anti-mines Organization, 18 June 2004.
[17] Interview with Col. Ali Alahrash, Ministry of Defense, 16 March 2004.
[18] Statement by the Libya, UN General Assembly, 18 November 1999.
[19] Interview with Paolo Cuculi, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, February 2004.
[20] “Libya to invest in Virgin deal over locating landmines,” Agence France-Presse, 27 March 2004; Andrew Pierce, “Libya puts Pounds 20m into Branson landmine clearance,” The Times, 27 March 2004.
[21] “Funding is needed to start saving lives,” Newsquest Media Group (Malvern), 2 April 2004.
[22] Interview with Col. Ali Alahrash, Ministry of Defense, 16 March 2004.
[23] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 953.
[24] Interview with Col. Ali Alahrash, Ministry of Defense, 16 March 2004.
[25] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 953.