PRESS RELEASES
Remarks by
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey D. Feltman
Mine Survey Graduation
Friday, March 11, 2005
11:30 a.m.
11 March 2005
I am very pleased to be here with you today to celebrate the graduation
of 26 Mine Survey Specialists from an eight-week training program
with a U.S. Army training team. The United States is proud to work
hand in hand with you--our Lebanese partners--to develop the capabilities
of the Lebanese themselves to reduce the dangers of landmines and
unexploded ordnance. We have great confidence in the capabilities
of the Lebanese Armed Forces. That is why we feel assured that through
our cooperation on training programs such as the one we are concluding
today, the Lebanese Armed Forces will have the technical skills-and
equipment-necessary to conduct comprehensive demining and explosive
ordnance disposal operations, for the benefit of their own people.
The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program in Lebanon is supported
by funding and technical support from both the U.S. Department of
State and the U.S. Department of Defense. We are proud that, after
the UAE, we have been the largest contributor to Humanitarian Mine
Action in Lebanon.
Today's graduation ceremony concludes eight weeks of training provided
by a U.S. Army training team in cooperation with the United Nations
and the Landmine Resource Center of Balamand University, which receives
funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The
U.S. Army trainers have instructed 26 LAF soldiers in procedures
to conduct technical mine surveys and effective operations planning.
This initiative responded to a request from the Lebanese National
Demining Office. The students who have been trained will be responsible
for entering areas suspected of mine contamination and mapping and
verifying the presence of mines and UXOs. Their efforts will result
in more precisely defined minefields, facilitating the effectiveness
and prioritization of Lebanon's demining efforts. Moreover, these
focused efforts will help reduce the size of Lebanon's minefields
significantly, returning land to productive use.
This Mine Survey training is part of a comprehensive Humanitarian
Mine Action Program that has provided trainers and equipment to
Lebanon's National Demining Office. Our contribution includes the
development and integration of 18 trained dog teams, the ARMTRAC
100 flail program, five fully-equipped ambulances, protective equipment,
maintenance equipment and medical supplies. We have provided four
continuous years of on-hand technical expertise in demining and
training for National Demining Office personnel.
Last year, the U.S. military conducted three demining training
missions in Lebanon. A U.S. army team trained six groups of 40 to
55 teachers each in three-day Mine Risk Education sessions. These
260 teachers, representing more than 240 different schools, are
now better able to pass on practical knowledge to protect the children
of Lebanon. We are also pleased that the U.S. Army Special Forces
were able to provide the LAF Engineer Regiment with fifty new fully
equipped and trained manual deminers. Additionally, a U.S. Navy
team conducted two five-week courses during the spring that resulted
in 60 trained Unexploded Ordnance specialists.
This Mine Survey project was assisted by the Landmine Resource
Center, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
USAID has provided $5.4 million to Lebanon for Mine Risk Education
and Mine Victims Assistance, particularly in the landmine afflicted
region of Jezzine.
To date, 1,200 people have benefited directly and indirectly from
the USAID-funded program in Jezzine.
Americans, like the Lebanese people, look forward to the day when
every child, every teenager, every adult, can walk the earth in
safety, free from the fear of land mines and unexploded ordnance.
To bring that day closer, the U.S. is committed to working with
its Lebanese and international partners to eradicate the threat
of mines and unexploded ordnance. Today's graduation of 26 Mine
Survey specialists is an important step in making this goal become
a reality.
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