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| US plans cluster bomb task force |
| The United States says it is ready to create a rapid reaction force to defuse cluster bombs left over from conflicts.
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 17-January-2008
2:30:45 AM |
| Officials made the suggestion at a United Nations conference in Geneva to discuss conventional weapons and how to protect civilians after hostilities.
They said the new force would go at short notice to places where the civilian population was at risk.
The US, Russia, China and Israel, which all produce and stockpile the weapons, oppose efforts to ban cluster bombs.
Nearly 100 countries support the so-called "Oslo Process" - an initiative launched by the Norwegian government in 2007 which aims to produce a legally binding treaty banning cluster munitions by the end of 2008.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which supports a ban, estimates that 400 million people in countries and regions like Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Chechnya live in areas affected by cluster bombs - effectively minefields.
See map of countries affected by landmines
When dropped from aircraft, the bombs break apart to scatter hundreds of small bomblets over a wide area. Some are designed not to explode on impact and can lie unexploded on the ground until disturbed, posing a threat to civilians long after conflicts end.
Explosive hazards
The US supports the use of cluster bombs if used and defused properly, and says efforts should focus on ensuring countries know how to use the weapons in a way that is in full accordance with international humanitarian law.
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