ARBIL, Iraq, Nov 23 (AFP) The Kurds of northern Iraq, nine years after Iraqi troops pulled
 out of the region, still face the nightmare of the uncharted mine fields they left behind.

 "The mines are a nightmare. They make no distinction between children and adults and mark
 them for life," said Haval Hoshyar who works with an Italian non-governmental organisation
 (NGO) in Arbil, the region's self-styled capital.

 The NGO which supports "civilian victims of war" runs a hospital in Arbil, a city held by the
 Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), one of two rival factions in Iraqi Kurdistan.

 "Mines are a real curse. We don't know how many were planted in Kurdistan," which is home to
 3.5 million people, he said, adding that at least 70 percent of mine victims were children or
 youths.

 Iraqi troops laid thousands of mines during the 1980-1988 war against Iran in the border areas
 and more during the Kurdish uprising that followed Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War over
 Kuwait, before withdrawing from the region.

 The task facing the UN-backed demining programme are mammoth because the mine-clearing
 teams have no maps.

 "We've cleared an area of several thousand square kilometres and neutralised thousands of
 mines," explained an expert with Mine Advising Group, a British NGO that is backed by a
 Norwegian humanitarian organisation.

 The expert, who asked to be named only as Mike, gave no estimate for the number of mines left
 hidden but said his group had 650 men out in the field working to give the Kurds "a better life".

 At the 120-bed hospital, three or four people each month have one or both legs amputated after
 stepping on mines.

 After treatment, patients are transferred to Sulaymaniyeh, near the Iranian border 200 kilometres
 (120 miles) to the southeast of Arbil, a city controlled by the KDP's rival, the Patriotic Union of
 Kurdistan.

 The Italian NGO, one of 15 operating in northern Iraq, runs a rehabilitation centre in
 Sulaymaniyeh.

 The NGOs play a key role in initiating dialogue between the two factions in divided Kurdistan,
 where a five-year power struggle up until 1998 claimed more than 3,000 lives, said an employee
 of British NGO Save the Children.

 "We work together and that strengthens peace and dialogue," said Najat Omer, a former English
 teacher who has switched to humanitarian work.

 The United Nations, meanwhile, oversees the humanitarian programmes and distributes food,
 medicine and other essential goods under the oil-for-food programme launched at the end of
 1996.

 The programme allows sanctions-hit Iraq to export crude in return for imports of essential
 supplies. Thirteen percent of the revenues goes to Iraqi Kurdistan.

 "But it's not enough. We want the programme to cover other areas such as infrastructure," a
 KDP official said in Salahudin, the party's base 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Arbil.

 The official, who declined to be named, said UN experts in the field agreed but their supervisors
 in New York still needed convincing.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com

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