Belgian Mines Identified in Libya

Once detonated, the PRB-NR-442 antipersonnel mine leaps almost a metre into the air before exploding. Pressure or rotation exerted on one the detonator’s antennas is enough to make it explode. The PRB-M3 antitank mine is made of plastic, which makes it difficult to detect. Its detonation mechanism is so sensitive that the weight of a small child is enough to trigger it. It contains some 7 kg of explosives. These mines have certain things in common: they are Belgian and they have been found in Libya. These mines were probably manufactured and sold to Libya in the 1970s or 1980s by the Poudrieres Reunies de Belgique (PRB), before the firm went bankrupt in 1990. In the conflict between rebel forces and those of Colonel Al-Qadhafi, each side accuses the other of using “the coward’s weapon,” which strikes both soldiers and civilians indiscriminately - mines. The ones lying beneath the sands of Libya were laid there unmarked and will for a long time remain a deadly threat to innocent people. Human Rights Watch, for instance, cites the use by Colonel Al-Qadhafi’s regime of many Brazilian and Chinese mines in several parts the country. With regard to the Belgian mines, tens of thousands of PR B-M3s are stockpiled in Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in Eastern Libya, according to a report from the NGO. Human Rights Watch also reports the presence of PRB-NR-442s in stores in Ajdabiya, controlled by the Libyan rebels. At this stage, however, there is no information to suggest that any antipersonnel mines have been used on the ground. But in mid-April Stuart Hughes, the BBC amputee journalist, witnessed the use of mines by the rebels, near the city of Ajdabiya. And antitank PRB-M3s can be identified in the images. The PRB-M3 is an antitank mine: it is therefore not covered by the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, which forbids the use of antipersonnel mines (a treaty which Tripoli has not signed.) But this weapon is so sensitive that it also serves as an antipersonnel mine. The rebels, who previously promised not to use the mines found in stores coming under their control, have therefore not honoured their pledge. The Libyan National Transition council, the rebel body, promised on 28 April no longer to use mines and to destroy all those that have been stockpiled. But for the time being there is no reason to believe that the rebel forces, whose hierarchy is rather vague, can force their men to honour their leaders’ promises. Furthermore, it is not known whether there are other minefields, laid by the rebels, awaiting a careless footstep. Had the BBC not paid attention to them, would the rebels themselves have decided to stop using this terrible weapon? On 19 July, on the RTBF’s 1300 hours news programme, rebel Colonel Ahmad Bosibable said that he had been “surprised by the number of minefields” around the city of Brega, which both camps claim to control. He added that he had “found Belgian mines made of plastic.” It has been impossible to verify these remarks, because the combat zone around Brega is inaccessible to journalists. Rebel forces spokesman Ahmad al-Bani said on Saturday that “journalists trying to enter Brega would be regarded as criminals compromising the rebel forces and threatening the security of operations.” There are no grounds at present for stating that there are indeed any Belgian mines in Brega. Rebels, on all fours, defuse Brazilian antipersonnel and Chinese antitank mines, which the Al-Qadhafi army uses in large numbers. As for Belgian mines, they seem to be present only in Benghazi and Ajdabiya. But it is possible that they will appear elsewhere very soon, since, according to our sources, the NTC has transferred PRB mines from stockpiles that have come under their control in the east towards the fighting going on in the city of Misratah in the west, aboard smugglers’ ships. Whether or not the combatants will use these weapons from our country remains an open question. Source: Le Soir, Brussels, in French 28 Jul 11. [Report by Damien Spleeters. Translated from French by the BBC monitoring dept. h/t Stuart Hughes]