U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged every
nation in the world to sign the painstakingly negotiated
pact "without delay."
Twelve days of negotiations ended after
diplomats from scores of nations delivered speeches
embracing the accord. It requires signatories not to use
cluster bombs, to destroy existing stockpiles within eight
years, and to fund programs that clear old battlefields of
dud bombs.
However, the talks did not involve the
biggest makers and users of cluster bombs: the United
States,
Russia,
China,
Israel,
India and Pakistan. And the pact leaves the door open for
new types that could pick targets more precisely and
contain self-destruct technology.
Participants plan to sign the treaty in
the Norwegian capital Oslo in December. It would go into
effect in mid-2009.
Norwegian Deputy Defense Minister Espen
Barth Eide, whose nation launched the negotiations in
February 2007, said he was confident that the treaty would
discourage the United States, Russia, China, Israel and
other proponents of cluster bombs to use the weapons
again.
"The reality is that states do care
about not only the legality of their actions, but also the
perceived legitimacy and appropriateness of their
actions," he said.
But Washington this week dismissed the
prospect that the treaty would alter U.S. policy. State
Department spokesman Tom Casey said the United States
remained committed to United Nations-sponsored talks that
seek voluntary codes of "best practice" among leading
makers of cluster bombs. These talks, also involving
Russia and China, are not considering a ban.
Nonetheless, the treaty adopted Friday
contains several concessions sought by the United States
and its NATO allies, many of whom plan to sign the deal.
The pact would allow countries that
sign the treaty to keep cooperating militarily with those
that do not. Earlier drafts of the treaty sought to
prohibit such cooperation, an idea fought by the United
States and its NATO allies on the grounds this would make
joint peacekeeping work difficult if not impossible.
Cluster bombs have been used in
conflicts worldwide, from
Vietnam to
Iraq,
to crush enemy forces by laying a carpet of dozens to
hundreds of explosions with a single bomb, shell or
rocket.
Their devastating impact on the
battlefield often comes at a terrible cost to civilians
afterward, including farmers who strike unexploded "bomblets"
in their fields or children who mistake the objects for
playthings.