97 Nations Back Land Mine Ban, But U.S., Russia, China Abstain

Governments from 97 countries pledged Friday to sign a binding treaty to ban land mines, but several important nations - including the United States, China and Russia - are still holding out.

Participants from 150 countries took part in the four-day gathering, sponsored by the Belgian government with the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines.

Organizers hope to increase international support for the comprehensive ban with every conference. Several countries have joined each time and the organization hopes the moral authority of the agreement will sway others.

The proposed treaty would ban mines designed to kill and injure people - but not anti-personnel mines meant to stop tanks or other military vehicles.

Many countries support a global ban on anti-personnel mines, but disagree on how to achieve it.

The United States is holding out for a global deal through the United Nations. The United States believes that will encourage hold-out nations such as China and Russia - the world’s biggest makers of anti-personnel mines - to agree to phasing out the weapons. China and Russia did not participate in the Brussels conference.

Belgium became the first country to ban the use, sale and production of the land mines, in 1995.

An estimated 120 million land mines are scattered in more than 70 countries, according to the American Red Cross.

Organizers said the weapons claim 26,000 victims each year - one person every 20 minutes.

France, Hungary, Spain, Angola and the Czech Republic were among the countries that agreed to sign the ban.