Over 110 nations agree on cluster bomb ban

Over 110 governments, except the United States, Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan - all major producers or users of cluster bombs – have agreed on a ban on these weapons ''to make the world a safer place."

The agreement, reached last night, in Dublin, helped mainly by the personal intervention by British prime minister Gordon Brown, bans the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster bombs.

The draft convention, which entails a commitment to remove cluster bombs from countries' arsenals within eight years, also calls for provision for the welfare of the victims of cluster bombs.

The draft convention to ban cluster bombs, which have killed and maimed tens of thousands of civilians, will be adopted tomorrow. The treaty, however, leaves a loophole for resistant countries - the United States, Israel, China, Russia, India and Pakistan – who boycotted the conference.

The text even includes a concession to the US and other countries which want to continue to use and produce such munitions by allowing military cooperation between signatories and non-signatories.

The concession will allow nations which sign the anti-cluster-bomb convention to participate in common military missions with the US and other countries that continue to use the bombs.

The draft will be accepted tomorrow, the final day of the conference. It will be signed in December in Oslo.

Cluster bombs drop hundreds of tennis-ball-sized smaller explosives, known as "bomblets," which then scatter and detonate across the battlefield. Many bomblets fail to explode for years, posing a threat to civilians, especially children who often mistake them for toys.
 
The death toll ranges into the tens of thousands of civilians killed, blinded or otherwise maimed by the weapons. According to UN estimates, they continue to present a lethal threat in more than 30 countries.

Despite the compromise, the draft convention was greeted by the Cluster Munition Coalition as a very strong step. CMC includes 200 civil society and professional organizations working for the cluster bomb ban.

Without the backing of the main producers, the ban may not amount to much.

The US has defended further use of cluster bombs, saying they remained tactically useful and were being redesigned with electronic timers to ensure the bomblets either exploded as intended or self-destructed.

Cluster bombs were heavily used by Israel during the July-August 2006, dropping large numbers on southern Lebanon in its war with Hezbollah militiamen. Many of the bombs did not explode immediately and have left a lasting humanitarian hazard.

The US last used the weapons during the 2003 invasion of Iraq but hasn't employed them since then.

Fired by artillery or dropped by aircraft, cluster bombs are canisters that open in flight and eject dozens or hundreds of "bomblets" across a wide area, typically the size of one or two football fields. Bomblets are small metallic spheres or cylinders that can be as small as a flashlight battery, with about the same force as a hand grenade. The weapon can be militarily effective against massed troop formations.

An exploding bomblet sends jagged shrapnel through the air much like grenades and mines. It can kill or maim someone within 10 to 50 yards. Bomblets can be set to explode with a time delay. Usually they are set to detonate on impact, but five per cent to 25 per cent typically fail to explode, essentially creating minefields wherever they land. The unexploded "duds" are volatile and can detonate if disturbed.

No treaties specifically forbid cluster bombs although the Geneva Conventions outline laws protecting civilians from cluster bombs during conflict.