As a result of the civil war unleashed by Colonel Gaddafi against his own citizens, the security situation in Libya is still precarious. This applies in particular to the securing of arms, munitions and to the remnants of munitions, landmines and other explosives left behind after the conflict.

The Federal Office is therefore making available approximately 291,000 euro for a project to destroy of about 500,000 landmines and fuses. The project is to be carried out by the Swiss non-governmental organization ‘Fondation Suisse de Déminage’ (FSD). The landmine stockpiles have been taken over from the Gaddafi regime.

With these funds, the German Government is assisting the National Transitional Council in preventing the possible use, theft or misuse of the landmine stockpiles and is at the same time providing security for reconstruction in Libya.

Germany is a co-initiator and one of the first signatory states of the Ottawa Convention on the global banning of anti-personnel mines, which entered into force in 1999. Currently, 157 states have acceded to or ratified the Convention. The German Government is energetically working for the universal application of the Ottawa Convention and its rigorous implementation. To this end, it is trying to engage in talks with those states that have not yet acceded to the Convention. Accession by the new Libya would underpin the National Transitional Council’s commitment to the prohibition of mines. It would also send an important political message to the countries in the region encouraging them to join the Convention.