Red Cross decries use of cluster bombs

Tuesday, November 7, 2006 (Geneva):

The Red Cross has demanded an immediate stop to using cluster bombs.

The organisation has pointed out that the indiscriminate civilian deaths caused by the weapons far outweigh any possible military advantages.

On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was stepping up its campaign against the weapons because of Israel's unprecedented use of the scattershot bombs during its month-long war with Lebanon.

Russia and the United States have resisted moves to eliminate the weapons.

"The problems associated with cluster munitions are not new," said Philip Spoerri, director of international law for the ICRC, guardian of the Geneva Convention on the conduct of war.

"In nearly every conflict in which they have been used, significant numbers of cluster munitions have failed to detonate as intended and have instead left a long-term and deadly legacy of contamination".

The UN Children's Fund has so far only called for "a freeze on the use, transfer and sale of the weapons," spokesman Michael Bociurkiw said. (AP)