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111 countries agree to ban cluster bombs
Dublin—A landmark intern-ational convention banning
cluster munitions was formally adopted by some 111 countries here
Friday, in a move supporters hope will stigmatise the lethal weapons
as much as landmines.
Diplomats adopted the landmark treaty after 12 days of robust
negotiations without objection, outlawing the use, production,
transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions, helping victims and
clearing contaminated areas. Its adoption sparked applause and a
standing ovation from delegates.
The treaty requires the destruction of stockpiled munitions within
eight years—though it leaves the door open for future, more precise
generations of cluster bombs that pose less harm to civilians.
The convention is due to be signed in Oslo on December 2-3. States
then have to ratify the pact.
Politicians and campaigners described the move as hugely
significant, despite the absence from the talks of key powers like
the United States, China and Russia.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, whose country
spearheaded the talks, said the treaty would stigmatise the use of
cluster bombs among those countries keeping their stockpiles.
“It would have been better if they were all here but the approach we
have chosen is the realistic approach and it was not realistic to
have them here,” he told AFP, describing it as an “ambitious
result”.
Stoere accepted, though, that it would have been better had the
United States, China, Russia, India, Pakistan and India—the world’s
major producers and users of cluster bombs—attended. But that was no
reason not to hold talks.
“They are bound to notice what we are saying,” he said. The US
government defended its non-attendance late Thursday, saying it was
“deeply concerned” about the humanitarian impact of cluster bombs
and all weapons of war.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the United States had spent
more than 1.2 billion dollars clearing unexploded ordnance and
weapons after conflict since 1993.—AFP
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