CAIRO: Egypt's desert terrain in the North Coast and the Sinai is saturated with unexploded landmines, which remains an obstacle to developing desert agriculture and reclamation efforts, experts say. "The task of clearing the desert of landmines does not fall under the responsibility of desert experts, said Dr Mohamed Wasif, former director of the Desert Research Center's water resources and desert soil department. "However, through the comprehensive database about the desert, which has been collected over the years by the center, we can provide information on the potential of the mined areas. "Since no major de-mining projects have actually been implemented, the center can only provide estimates of the potential revenues that could be generated from these areas once they are developed, explained Wasif. Out of 110 million landmines planted worldwide, 23 million are in Egypt, which are spread over an arable area that account for 10 percent of the country's cultivable land. Over the last 25 years, less than 8,000 people fell victims to exploding landmines, leaving 3,200 dead and 4,723 injured. Millions of Egyptian and Israeli landmines in the Sinai from the wars of 1967 and 1973 adding to the millions more laid in the Western Desert during World War II. These areas - namely the Western Desert - are historically known to house some of the most fertile lands. The government has a long journey ahead in its attempt to de-mine the country's desserts. According to Dr Ibrahim Mohamed Nasr, deputy director of the water resources and desert soil department, many of the maps pinpointing the exact locations of these landmines continue to be withheld by the former allied and axis nations. "Still, I would like to point out that the availability, or lack thereof, of these maps won't make a difference. Nasr claims that since the mines were planted over 65 years, they must have shifted location due to climatic changes. "To take the risk of removing them from these stretches of land would be a perilous mission. Bedouins living in these deserts regularly walk over areas littered with mines as they go about their daily routine. As a result, many have been maimed. Efforts to clear the mines in the Western Desert - which were planted to stave off enemy tanks, fighters and sizeable war machines - as well as in Sinai have always coincided with fatalities and injuries. "The nations that were involved in the wars cannot give Egypt money to conduct widespread mine-sweeping operations. It is simply too costly, Nasr said. "Moreover, Egypt was not the only country that has been struggling with this problem since World War II, says Nasr, "If aid is given to one country towards this end, other nations will demand similar funding. In that case, the total value would be unaffordable. Therefore, it has to come in as part of the development aid granted by donor nations to developing countries, he added. Some aid has been offered, but has proven insignificant in the face of the sheer magnitude of the fields. Any real development plans in these areas hinge on de-mining Egypt's deserts.
