Landmine group sounds new weapons warning

A group campaigning against anti-personnel mines has accused NATO governments of stockpiling similar weapons two years after an international treaty banning the mines came into effect.

In a report published today the group, Landmine Action, says several Western governments have developed anti-tank mines equipped with highly sensitive anti-handling devices, which explode in close human proximity.

The British Ministry of Defence denies it has such sensitive weapons.

It says Landmine Action is trying to broaden the scope of the original treaty.

But the group says the pace of technical change is such that international bans will prove ineffective if they are applied too narrowly.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service