German push to abolish cluster bombs

BERLIN, July 1 (UPI) -- Representatives from more than 80 countries met in Berlin to push for the destruction of cluster bombs, but some of the biggest military powers stayed away.

"Cluster munitions are among the most problematic and vicious types of ammunition used in contemporary warfare. The long-term effects of their use are disastrous," German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler said at last week's conference.

He added that Germany had become the 11th country to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was adopted in December 2008. The German Defense Ministry said it would destroy its remaining bombs by 2015 -- quicker than the treaty demands.

So far, 98 countries have signed the document, but 30 countries need to ratify before it comes into effect.

Erler said he was confident that the 30 ratifications would be reached in 2010 by the latest. But without the biggest owners of stockpiles on board, plans remain plans.

Some of the biggest military powers, however, including the United States, Russia, China, Israel and India, stayed away from the conference. Germany, Britain and the Netherlands have the largest stockpiles of cluster bombs -- totaling about 96 million. The United States tops the world with more than 700 million cluster bombs and has not even signed the treaty.

"The U.S. is out of step with most of its major military allies," Steve Goose, an arms expert with Human Rights Watch, told Deutsche Welle Online.

Erler said he is hopeful that Washington will follow up its ambitious nuclear disarmament strategy with similar initiatives regarding cluster bombs.

Fired by artillery or dropped by aircraft, cluster bombs open in mid-flight to release multiple small explosives across a large area, thus increasing the civilian death toll. Often, they don't explode when hitting the ground and can lie dormant for years until a playing child, for example, detonates them. According to a 2006 report by human rights group Handicap International, at least 13,000 people have died because of post-conflict cluster bomb explosions, but experts say the real figure is much higher.

The bombs were first dropped by the German Luftwaffe in World War II and later in grand style by U.S. forces in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Rights groups say cluster bombs were used by both sides in last year's Russian-Georgian war, Israel's campaign in Lebanon and the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.