The Swiss Federation for Mine Action and the OSCE Center in Dushanbe have launched the first stage of a project to remove land mines in Tajikistan. OSCE Centre Head Marc Gilbert was quoted as saying that the OSCE and several East European countries are contributing 500,000 euros ($595,000) to the project. Reportedly, 2 percent of Tajik territory -- 12,500 square kilometers -- needs to be inspected for minefields. According to the report, at least 16,000-17,000 land mines remain from the 1992-97 Tajik civil. The Uzbek military has also mined parts of its border with Tajikistan to prevent armed Islamic militants from crossing into Uzbekistan. (ITAR-TASS)