uscitizen
Villified User
46 of 49 nations OK ban on cluster bombs
DOUG MELLGREN
Associated Press
OSLO, Norway - Forty-six nations adopted a declaration Friday calling for a 2008 treaty banning cluster bombs, saying the weapons kill and maim long after conflicts end and inflict "unacceptable harm" on civilians, particularly children.
Some key arms makers - including the U.S., Russia, Israel and China - snubbed the conference of 49 nations. Of those attending, Poland, Romania and Japan did not approve the final text.
But organizers said the declaration was needed despite the absence of key nations to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster posed by unexploded cluster munitions.
Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles which scatter them over vast areas, with some failing to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years after conflicts end until they are disturbed, often by civilians.
As many as 60 percent of the victims in Southeast Asia are children, the Cluster Munition Coalition campaign group said. The weapons have recently been used in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon, it said. The U.N. estimated that Israel dropped as many as 4 million bomblets in southern Lebanon during last year's war with Hezbollah, with as many 40 percent failing to explode on impact.
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/16767369.htm
DOUG MELLGREN
Associated Press
OSLO, Norway - Forty-six nations adopted a declaration Friday calling for a 2008 treaty banning cluster bombs, saying the weapons kill and maim long after conflicts end and inflict "unacceptable harm" on civilians, particularly children.
Some key arms makers - including the U.S., Russia, Israel and China - snubbed the conference of 49 nations. Of those attending, Poland, Romania and Japan did not approve the final text.
But organizers said the declaration was needed despite the absence of key nations to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster posed by unexploded cluster munitions.
Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles which scatter them over vast areas, with some failing to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years after conflicts end until they are disturbed, often by civilians.
As many as 60 percent of the victims in Southeast Asia are children, the Cluster Munition Coalition campaign group said. The weapons have recently been used in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon, it said. The U.N. estimated that Israel dropped as many as 4 million bomblets in southern Lebanon during last year's war with Hezbollah, with as many 40 percent failing to explode on impact.
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/16767369.htm