1 March 1999


Press Release
SG/SM/6912
DC/2629


AT CEREMONY TO CELEBRATE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF OTTAWA CONVENTION, SECRETARY- GENERAL STRESSES THAT EFFORT TO REMOVE LANDMINES WILL CONTINUE

19990301
Following is the text of remarks made today at Headquarters by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the occasion of the ringing of the Peace Bell to celebrate the entry into force of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Ottawa Convention):

Good afternoon, dear friends. We are really happy that so many of you turned out for this symbolic occasion. I think today we can all celebrate that, if this Convention has come into force today, it is not because of something only the United Nations did. This is something that we can all be proud of. We worked together -- the United Nations, governments, non- governmental organizations, individuals, grassroots organizations -- and we made it happen. And so today is an important day, and these abominable weapons will be on the check. We will continue removing landmines. We are not going to let them lie, waiting to maim and kill innocent women and children long after the conflicts have ended.

So on behalf of all of us, I am going to ring this Bell after Ambassador Fowler has said a few words.

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