OBAMA WILL NOT SIGN AN INTERNATIONAL BAN ON LANDMINES

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that the administration recently completed a review and decided not to change the Bush-administration era policy.

More than 150 countries have agreed to the Mine Ban Treaty's provisions to end the production, use, stockpiling and trade in mines. Besides the United States, holdouts include: China, India, Pakistan, Myanmar and Russia.

Kelly said that the United States would send an observer group of mine experts to a review conference on the treaty in Cartegena, Colombia next week.