#rumaila

 A policeman scans for landmines near the Rumaila oil field in Basra Province, 420 km (261 miles) southeast of Baghdad, May 10, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Atef Hassan

(Reuters) - In Iraq's vast southern desert, red sandbags stretch along roadsides to warn of the danger from Saddam-era landmines that litter the prized Rumaila oilfield. White ones signal areas safe to walk or drive.

  Now recovering from decades of conflict, Iraq may have 25 million landmines and millions of other unexploded bombs that are slowing development of some of the world's largest fields and one of Iraq's key cities, the southern oil hub Basra.