Joint Minesweeping Effort Winding Up

A joint British, Dutch and Belgian minesweeping force has begun its final operation in the Persian Gulf and will return home in January, a Dutch Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

The spokesman said the force, which has been in the gulf for the past year to ensure safe shipping, launched “Operation Cleansweep” in the south of the waterway this week in a last effort to find mines laid during the Iran-Iraq War.