BBC News - Landmines: US tells Mozambique summit of ban plans

BBC News - Landmines: US tells Mozambique summit of ban plans

The United States says it will no longer produce or buy any anti-personnel landmines.

A White House statement also said it would not seek to replace expiring stockpiles of the weapons.

The announcement came at a conference in Mozambique on the Ottawa Convention, a UN treaty banning landmines. The White House says it is moving towards signing the pact.

But critics accuse the US of not going far enough. They say it should ban landmine use immediately, commit to a target date for joining the UN treaty and destroy its existing stocks. Several other world powers, including Russia and China, have also not signed the convention.