BANGKOK, Thailand, Myanmar's military regime makes more extensive use of land mines than any other government in the world, a group that lobbies against the weapons said Wednesday.

In a global survey published annually, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines said that only three governments in the world use land mines: Nepal, Russia and Myanmar.

Guerrilla groups both allied to and opposed to Myanmar's government also use the explosives, the group said in its annual Landmine Monitor Report.

At least 231 people were killed or injured by land mines in Myanmar in 2005, it said.

The report noted that Myanmar's ruling junta is not a party to the international Mine Ban Treaty drafted in 1997, and expressed concern about reports of civilians being forced to act as human minesweepers.

Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment, but the report cited what it said was an October 2005 statement by the junta, in which it defended its use of the weapons as a matter of national security.

The statement, made to the United Nations, said Myanmar is "in principle, in favor of banning the export, transfer and indiscriminate use of anti-personnel mines."

It added, however, that "Myanmar believes that all states have the right to self-defense ... as no State would compromise its national security and sovereign interests under any circumstances."

The report said that requests to Myanmar's government for information relevant to the statement went unanswered.

According to the report, Myanmar's army is using an increasing number of United States M-14 land mines obtained from an unknown source, and late last year "reportedly began recruiting technicians for the production of the next generation of mines and other munitions."

The group said that the United Wa State Army, an ethnic minority guerrilla group loosely allied with the government, allegedly also produces its own anti-personnel mines.

It said other armed groups that use land mines included the Karen National Liberation Army, the Karenni Army, the Shan State Army (South), the Chin National Army, the United Wa State Army and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army. Some of the groups are allied with the junta and other opposed to it.

Recently the Chin National Front denounced the use of landmines which , according to Elisabeth Reusse-Decrey, President of Geneva Call “proves that even in the middle of a conflict the life of civilians can be taken into account as the most important thing”. To read the full article, please visit the following link: http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=5108