100 states sign cluster-bomb ban in Oslo (1st Lead)

Oslo - Government leaders and representatives from more than 100 states gathered Wednesday to sign a global ban on the use of cluster bombs. The treaty, which was negotiated in Dublin in May, bans the production, use and trade of cluster munitions. Cluster weapons - criticized because they carry a high risk of maiming or killing civilians - can be launched from the air or via artillery shells and can disperse hundreds of bomblets over a target area. Children are often victims of the weapons since they sometimes mistake the so-called bomblets for toys. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg opened the conference, which was held in Oslo's City Hall. Speakers included Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith of Laos, who said the treaty was 'a historic milestone' and would protect 'innocent people from being subjected to the scourge of cluster munitions.' Laos is one of the country's most impacted by cluster munitions, he said, noting that during the Indochina war some 3 million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos. A third of those did not explode. In recent decades Laos has registered some 300 casualties a year from munitions and unexploded bombs, he said. Those account for 'about half of all confirmed cluster munition victims' worldwide. Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakosone noted that Japan, since 1998, had spent 300 million dollars on assisting 38 countries to clear mines and ordinance, and also to aid victims. Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch, and co-chair of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, which has pushed for the ban, highlighted the need to ensure that countries do not purchase cluster munitions and then stockpile or transfer via other states. However, the world's largest producers and users of cluster bomb munitions - the United States, Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan - are not signatories of the treaty.