A Canadian delegation, led by Gen. (ret) Maurice Baril, a Special Advisor to Canada's Ambassador for Mine Action, is in town to encourage Indonesia to ratify the Ottawa Convention and raise awareness about the dangers of antipersonnel land mines.

The Ottawa Convention, or the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on their Destruction, to give it its full title, was initially signed by 122 countries in Ottawa, Canada. Currently 144 countries are party to the convention.

Indonesia, which is free from the problem of antipersonnel land mines, signed the Convention in 1997. For reasons unknown, however, the country has not yet ratified the convention.

"We had a positive response from our meetings with Indonesian officials. We hope Indonesia will ratify the convention in the coming months," Baril, Canada's former chief of the defense staff and a crusader against land mines, told The Jakarta Post in an interview on Thursday in Jakarta.

Baril said that Indonesia, the largest country in the region, could play an important role in convincing neighboring countries to ratify the convention.

"It is quite interesting to come to this country, which not only signed the convention but has been living by the spirit of the convention. So, it is just a matter of time to ratify the convention," said Baril, who was involved from day one with the convention.

Given the huge pile of bills pending in the House of Representatives, the ratification may take several years.

"The longer it waits, the longer we can't use the influence of Indonesia in the region to say, come and join us in ratifying the convention. I thing the real pressure has to come from one in the region," said Baril, also a veteran of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Canada, a pioneer in implementing the Ottawa Convention, established a $100 million Canadian Land Mine Fund to comply with the convention. It also appointed a special ambassador to serve as Canada's international focal point on all matters pertaining to the convention.

The two-day visit of the delegation, which arrived in Jakarta late on Wednesday, was part of an Asia-Pacific tour ahead of the upcoming sixth meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention in Zagreb, Croatia. The meeting will be held from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2.

Baril, who was accompanied by Lt. Col. (ret) John MacBride, a military advisor, and Sumita Dixit, program coordinator, Asia Mine Action Team, are scheduled to meet Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono on Friday.

They are also slated to hold discussions on Friday with members of the House of Representatives security and foreign affairs commission. The delegation held a roundtable discussion on land mines on Thursday that was attended by Indonesian lawmakers, senior officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations.