Nations sign cluster-bomb ban, US and Russia refuse
DOUG MELLGREN AP News

Nations began signing a treaty banning cluster bombs Wednesday in a move that supporters hope will shame the U.S., Russia and China and other non-signers into abandoning weapons blamed for maiming and killing civilians.

Norway, which began the drive to ban cluster bombs 18 months ago, was to be first to sign, followed by Laos and Lebanon, both hard-hit by the weapons.

Organizers said 88 countries were expected to sign on Wednesday and around 100 out of the world's 192 U.N. member nations will have signed by Thursday.

Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles that scatter them over vast areas. Some fail to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years until they are disturbed, often by children attracted by their small size and bright colors.

"Banning cluster bombs took too long. Too many people lost arms and legs," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said as he opened the conference.

Washington, Moscow and other non-signers say cluster bombs have legitimate military uses such as repelling advancing troop columns. But according to the group Handicap International, 98 percent of cluster-bomb victims are civilians, and 27 percent are children.

The Bush administration has said that a comprehensive ban would hurt world security and endanger U.S. military cooperation on humanitarian work with countries that sign the accord.

Activists said ahead of the signing that they hope the treaty will nonetheless shame non-signers into shelving the weapons, as many did with land mines after a 1997 treaty banning them.

"Once you get half the world on board, its hard to ignore a ban," said Australian anti-cluster bomb campaigner Daniel Barty. "One of the things that really worked well with the land-mine treaty was stigmatization. No one really uses land mines," he said.

The anti-cluster bomb campaign gathered momentum after Israel's monthlong war against Hezbollah in 2006, when it scattered up to 4 million bomblets across Lebanon, according to U.N. figures.

"In southern Lebanon, for more than two years, children and the elderly have been victimized (by cluster munitions)," Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Saloukh said.

Norway called a conference to ban cluster bombs in February 2007. In May, more than 100 countries agreed to ban cluster bombs within eight years. The treaty must be ratified by 30 countries before it takes effect.

"I think it's awesome that 100 countries are coming to Oslo to sign (the new cluster bomb treaty)," said American Jody Williams, who won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to ban land mines.

See: stopclustermunitions.org

Under pressure, Pentagon to build cluster bombs posing fewer civilian risks
LOLITA C. BALDOR

A defense official says the Pentagon is changing its policy on cluster bombs and plans to reduce the danger of unexploded munitions in the deadly explosives.
The policy shift would require that after 2018, more than 99 percent of the bomblets in a cluster bomb must detonate. The defense official spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because the policy has not yet been released publicly.
Limiting the amount of live munitions left on the battle field would lessen the danger to innocent civilians who have been killed or severely injured when they accidentally detonate the bombs. The U.S. has been under growing international pressure to limit the use of cluster bombs.

Forum seeks to ban cluster bombs

Diplomats from around the world are gathering in Dublin for a conference that aims to secure a treaty banning the use of cluster bombs.

The proposed ban has the support of more than 100 countries.

Humanitarian organisations say a binding treaty is now urgent because the weapons cause unacceptable harm to civilians.

But some of the world's main producers and stockpilers - including the US, the UK, Russia and China - oppose the move.

"Governments have been talking about the dangers of cluster bombs for years," said Grethe Ostern, joint head of the Cluster Munitions Coalition.

"More delays mean more injuries and death for ordinary people. We have a unique opportunity to ban cluster bombs in Dublin. It is now or never." Cluster bombs have been used in countries including Cambodia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

The initial weapon scatters thousands of smaller bombs across a wide area, but these bomblets can fail to explode, leaving a deadly legacy as civilians return to their homes.

On the eve of the conference, Pope Benedict XVI expressed hopes that "it will be possible to reach a strong and credible international agreement".

"It is necessary to heal the errors of the past and avoid them happening again in the future. I pray for the victims of the cluster munitions, for their families and for those who will join the conference too, wishing that it will be successful," the pontiff said.

Humanitarian groups, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, see the daily consequences of cluster munitions among the wounded civilians they treat.

They argue that a comprehensive and binding treaty - one that includes provision for compensation for victims - is essential.

"Cluster munitions are weapons that never stop killing," said ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger.

But some of the biggest producers and stockpilers of cluster weapons - the US, the UK, China, Russia, India and Israel - are against the ban, claiming such munitions can be useful on the battlefield. They have been lobbying to have the treaty watered down.

While the UK government, for example, has shown a commitment to the process, it is strongly opposed to an outright ban.

Instead it is seeking an exemption for the newest generation of so-called "smart" cluster munitions which contain self-destruct mechanisms.

Campaigners say the failure rate of these new kinds of munitions makes them too risky.

If, as expected, the conference does come to agreement, it will be the most important disarmament treaty since the Ottawa convention to prohibit landmines over 10 years ago, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes says.

HOW A CLUSTER BOMB WORKS
1. The cluster bomb, in this case a CBU-87, is dropped from a plane and can fly about nine miles before releasing its load of about 200 bomblets.
2. The canister starts to spin and opens at an altitude between 1,000m and 100m, spraying the bomblets across a wide area.
3. Each bomblet is the size of a soft drink can and contains hundreds of metal pieces. When it explodes, it can cause deadly injuries up to 25m away