BBC journalist Stuart Hughes, who lost his leg in a landmine explosion in Iraq in 2003, examines the success of the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty.In January 1997, Princess Diana walked through a minefield in Angola and brought the problem of landmines to the world's attention.
Her actions angered some who felt she was making a political statement but, less than a year later, shortly after Diana's death, Britain joined more than 120 countries in signing up to the Ottawa Treaty.
A decade on, campaigners describe the treaty as a "success in progress".
A total of 80% of the world's countries have now pledged not to produce, use or stockpile landmines. The global trade in the weapons has virtually ceased.
Just two governments - Burma and Russia - are known to have used landmines last year. More than 40 million landmines have been destroyed since 1997 and thousands of square miles of contaminated land has been cleared.
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more:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7124801.stmPlease, no Diana-bashing in this thread. Anyone who had accomplished nothing more in their life than to help ban land mines would still be more accomplished than most of us.