AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Six states have formally called for cluster bombs to be banned following the recent conflict in Lebanon, a senior diplomat said Sept. 7.
Austria, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden and the Vatican made the call during an international review conference on the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons which ended here late Sept. 6, said conference president Francois Rivasseau.
More than a dozen Lebanese, including several children, have been killed by bomblets from cluster bombs since the end of hostilities on August 14.
Many communities are littered with the unexploded munitions dropped by Israeli air force, which often lie hidden in rubble.
The United Nations has estimated that it would take at least two years to clear the scourge scattered across more than 390 locations.
Similar calls for a ban have been made following conflicts in recent years, but countries have failed to agree on steps for an outright prohibition of cluster bombs.
The Convention restricts or outlaws the use of designated types of weapons that are considered to cause unnecessary or unjustifiable suffering, or to affect civilians indiscriminately.
Since 2003, an optional protocol to the Convention obliges signatories to ensure the clearance of any unexploded munitions they used during a conflict. If a country is unable to carry out the operation itself, it must provide assistance, including finance.
Of the 100 states that have ratified the Convention, only 23 have signed up to the protocol on the
