| Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC January 19, 2006 United States Reinforces Azerbaijan's Landmine Clearance EffortsAzerbaijan's clearance of persistent landmines left from past conflict will receive another boost from the inter-agency U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program when five valuable mine-detecting dogs, provided by a U.S. non-governmental organization, arrive in Azerbaijan this month. They will complement a heavy-duty Rhino machine that literally tills anti-personnel and anti-vehicle landmines from the soil, and a modern explosive ordnance disposal robot, both recently provided by the United States and that are now poised to begin operational field evaluations in Azerbaijan. Since 1999, the United States has invested nearly $17 million in mine action in Azerbaijan, demonstrating its commitment to helping to free that country from the humanitarian impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war. The five mine-detecting dogs, worth $100,000, are being donated to Azerbaijan's National Mine Action Authority (ANAMA) by the Marshall Legacy Institute (www.marshall-legacy.org) through a public-private partnership with the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. As with a previous gift of seven mine detecting dogs, the Marshall Legacy Institute is obtaining the five dogs through the generous funding contributions of American school children, private citizens, and corporations. The Marshall Legacy Institute similarly provided Armenia, Eritrea, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, and Thailand with mine detecting dogs that were integrated with Department of State mine action programs in those countries. The $1.7 million remote-controlled Rhino Earth Tiller, already provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (OSD/SOLIC), is well-suited for unearthing and crushing landmines that infest parts of Azerbaijan's fertile plains, thereby enabling its croplands to be restored to productive use. Additionally, the $70,000 remote-controlled Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot (EODBOT), also provided by the U.S. Department of Defense's OSD/SOLIC, will be used to clean up dangerous and unstable explosive remnants of war without endangering lives. To learn more about the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program, the world's largest, visit www.state.gov/t/pm/wra and www.humanitarian-demining.org/demining/default.asp. |
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