Japan and the United States held talks Tuesday and Wednesday in Tokyo on land mines possessed by U.S. forces in Japan, preceding Tokyo's anticipated signing of an international treaty banning antipersonnel mines.
Officials from the Foreign Ministry and Defense Agency as well as the U.S. State and Defense departments attended the talks. Foreign Ministry officials said the two parties reconfirmed their common position that land mines under the control of foreign forces on the territory of a country that is party to the treaty are not covered by it.
An international conference on land mines in Oslo adopted the final draft of the global treaty Sept. 18. The treaty is expected to be formally signed in Ottawa on Dec. 3. The treaty prohibits the use, export, production, development and stockpiling of land mines. It obliges signatories to dispose of stockpiled land mines within four years and to remove within 10 years those already laid.