Panama Asks US to Clear Military BasesPanamanian Foreign Minister Jose M. Aleman said Thursday that his government has decided to ask the United States to remove undetonated explosions in the shooting ranges used for almost one century near the Panama Canal.Addressing the Budget Commission of the parliament, Aleman said the government will invoke the Inter American General Arbitrage Treaty due to the failure of diplomatic efforts with Washington on the matter. Under the treaty, American countries "agree to adopt obligatory arbitrage as a way to solve legal international differences should it not be possible to do it through diplomacy." Panama insisted that the United States must take responsibility for the decontamination of 3,500 hectares on the margins of the inter-oceanic channel, said the foreign minister. |
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