London - Britain is to ask for a 10-year extension to clear an estimated 20,000 unexploded landmines planted by Argentina during the Falkland Islands conflict of 1982, it was reported Monday.

Under the Ottawa Convention signed in 1997, Britain would have been obliged to remove the mines by March next year.

But the Foreign Office, citing Article Five of the treaty, would ask co-signatories to give it another 10 years to complete the task, the BBC reported.

Apart from the costs involved, the remoteness of the Falkland Islands and its vast and difficult terrain required the use of a wide range of techniques which made the task expensive and time-consuming, the Foreign Offdice argues.

According to Falkland Island officials, no civilians have been injured by the mines, which cover just 0.1 per cent of potential farming land.

"Clearing the mines here is neither an economic nor a serious social issue," Mike Summers, spokesman for the Island's Legislative Council, told the BBC.

However, campaigners believe that the British request, expected to be tabled during a a meeting in Geneva this week, could set a negative precedent for other countries.

"Other countries might say, since the UK has not de-mined the Falklands, we want to do the same," said Prince Mired Bin Raad Al-Hussein, president of the last meting of the countries which signed the treaty.

There is also a concern that if Britain's request is granted, possibly with reservations, such a move could expose the weakness of the treaty.

"The worst-case scenario is that it is passed with a number of abstentions. It will show the fragility of these kinds of treaties," said Seb Taylor, chief executive of the non-governmental organization Landmine Action.

The Falkland Islands are more than 11,000 kilometres from Britain and sea freight can take up to six weeks to get there. (dpa)