Countries affected by cluster bombs most recently used in Lebanon met in Belgrade Tuesday for an international conference to push for a ban on the lethal weapons. The first meeting to bring together most countries affected by cluster bombs aims at ensuring that a new treaty will include victims' concerns.
The Belgrade gathering is part of the so-called Oslo Process launched in the Norwegian capital in February 2006 and aims at concluding a treaty by next year.
The process aims at banning the weapon, and placing obligations on states to support victims, clear up ordnance left over from conflicts and destroy weapon stockpiles.
China, Russia and the United States, the largest manufacturers of cluster bombs, oppose the ban.
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1 comment:
I hope that this initiative gets the same kind of support that the land mines treaty received. I've heard horror stories about these bombs. They are absolutely unnecessary and cause undue hardship on the civilian population for years to come. (Some of the clusters remain unexploded, leaving whole areas too dangerous to enter.)
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