US, Russia and China urged to join treaty banning use of cluster bombs

[Judi Lynn]

Source: International Herald Tribune/Associated Press

US, Russia and China urged to join treaty banning use of cluster bombs
The Associated Press
Published: October 2, 2007

BELGRADE, Serbia: Big cluster bomb producers the United States, Russia and China will be urged to join a new treaty banning the use of the deadly weapon, officials negotiating the deal said Thursday.

"We want the U.S., Russia and China to join," said Thomas Nash, a coordinator of the Cluster Munition Coalition at the start of a three-day conference of 23 countries most effected by the weapons, which have caused growing concern because of the dangers they pose to civilians.

"The three biggest cluster munition producers have a moral obligation to join the new treaty, which has so far been approved by 81 nations," Nash told The Associated Press.

The attempts to work out an international treaty regulating the use of cluster bombs has so far met opposition from China and Russia, and received only lukewarm support from the United States.

The U.S. has said there were sufficient controls on the weapon in existing treaties. And it has said cluster bombs, if used carefully, have important military uses, such as attacking artillery positions, armored columns and missile installations.



Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/02/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-Cluster-Bombs.php

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