Britain on Friday imposed a total ban on the use of anti-personnel mines by its forces in a tribute to the land mines campaign launched by Princess Diana in the months before her death.
Defense Secretary George Robertson said he was acting to "wipe away" an exemption that allowed use of mines in exceptional circumstances.The symbolic move by Britain was aimed at encouraging other states to support the so-called Ottawa Process, a Canadian initiative for nations that want to ban the production, stockpiling, export and use of mines.
"What we now have to concentrate on is getting those countries who have not yet signed up to the Ottawa Treaty," Robertson said.
Princess Diana, killed in a Paris car crash last August, gave the anti-land mines campaign a major boost with high-profile visits to Angola and Bosnia.