THE PENTAGON

By MARK THOMPSON

Princess Diana's death has refocused attention on her efforts to wipe out anti-personnel land mines. Last week Pentagon officials lamented that her demise could make it harder to keep a tiny but key portion of the U.S. mine arsenal. While most of the Pentagon grudgingly acceded to President Clinton's broader proposed ban on such mines, the elite Army GREEN BERETS and Navy SEALS are voicing private concerns that the accord the White House wants could strip a lifesaving weapon from their webbed belts. It is the aptly named "pursuit denial munition," a grenade-size explosive that when thrown in the path of an enemy, quickly spits out seven "buttons." Each of the buttons, which fly up to 20 ft. in all directions, is linked to the mine with a superthin trip wire. One pound of pressure on any wire causes the mine to pop up about 4 ft. and explode. The Special Forces have 16,000 of these devices and want to keep them. "They can be the difference between life and death," says a Pentagon official.

--By Mark Thompson