Nations sign cluster bomb treaty in Norway

Representatives from 100 countries have gathered in Oslo, Norway to sign an international treaty banning cluster bombs that kill and maim tens of thousands of people. Yet major suppliers and producers of cluster bombs like the United States, Russia and China have refused to sign the pact.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said in his opening speech he was glad that the treaty had finally become a reality after decades of human casualties.

"Too many people lost their lives and their limbs; too many futures were shattered," he said. "The tragedy of their needless suffering is matched only by our joy today in being able to prevent more human misery in the future," he added.

The anti-personnel weapons were invented during the Second World War to stop armies from advancing. Containing multiple explosive sub-munitions that break open in mid-air, cluster bombs have a long range -- the size of several football fields -- and thus pose great risks to civilians.

Campaigners speak up

Anti-cluster bomb campaigners call the munitions immoral and outmoded because of the great risks to civilians.

The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) heralded the treaty as the "[m]ost significant disarmament and humanitarian treaty of the decade," according to the CMC website.

Although the treaty bans current designs of cluster bombs it does not completely outlaw them, calling instead for developing the weapon with more precision to avoid failure rates.

Thomas Nash, coordinator of CMC would like to see cluster bombs outlawed. "This is the weapon that can't stop killing," he said

"Cluster bombs are indiscriminate killers not only during attacks but they leave a deadly legacy long after conflict," he added.

US backs cluster bombs

The United States is among countries which have refused to sign the treaty, claiming it has begun to design more effective cluster bombs that pose less risk to civilians.

"We're actually doing more than a lot of the countries that are going to Norway to sign the treaty," James F. Lawrence, director of the State Department's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, told the New York Times in an interview.

The U.S. sold cluster bombs to Israeli that were used during the 2006 war on Lebanon. Israel dumped 90 percent of its cluster bombs in the last 72 hours of the conflict, killing about 40 and wounding more than 270 people, a toll that could rise since the unexloded bombs can result in injuries for years after they were dropped.

Jody Williams, anti-landmine campaigner and Nobel Prize winner told Reuters she hoped President–elect Barack Obama would sign it since the U.S. had followed the elements of the treaty.

"Mr Obama tells us to look for hope and change," she said. "I like hope and change, but I want to see him sign it."

Mr Obama tells us to look for hope and change. I like hope and change, but I want to see him sign it.

Jody Williams, Nobel Prize winner and anti-landmine campaigner