Bissau — Officials in Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday declared the once embattled nation's capital mine-free and said citizens were safe to roam anywhere in the city.

"The city of Bissau without mines represents a great satisfaction for all of its inhabitants," said Bissau Mayor Duarte Vieira during a special ceremony to mark the occasion.

The ceremony was held in a former minefield in the neighbourhood of Enterramento. The mines were sewn during Guinea-Bissau's 1998-1999 civil war.

"Today peace defeated war and good defeated bad. Today we can say that the city of Bissau is finally at peace," said Cesar de Carvalho, director of the National Centre of Anti-Mine Action.

The NGOs Humanitarian Aid in Guinea-Bissau and Let's Fight Against Mines conducted the mine-clearing operation in Bissau. They said they covered 937,000 metres of ground and found 2,580 anti-personnel mines, 73 anti-tank mines and 70,755 other explosive devices.

Nhasse na Man, secretary of state of veterans, represented the federal government at Wednesday's ceremony.

"Where there are mines it is impossible to develop economic and social activities," he said. "From today on the population can resume cultivating their land."

Although Bissau is now mine-free, authorities warned that the area of Bra near the airport outside the capital was not.

Guinea Bissau's landmine problem goes back as far as the country's war of independence from colonisers Portugal, when both sides planted landmines to defend their positions. The war ended in 1974, but even this year unexploded munitions from that war of 30 years ago maimed three children, fatally injuring another. Other unexploded devices date back to the short but bloody 11-month civil war of 1998 and 1999.

Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish landmine devices have all been found in Guinea Bissau. The government signed up to the international convention banning anti-personnel mines in 1997, although the signature was only ratified in 2001. Globally, 150 countries have signed the ban, though mines continue to kill or maim an estimated 20,000 people a year - and around one fifth of all victims are children.

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]