"As long as there is no effective ban, these weapons will continue to disproportionately affect civilians, maiming and killing women, children, and other vulnerable groups," said Jan Egeland (pictured right), the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

"This freeze is essential until the international community puts in place effective legal instruments to address urgent humanitarian concerns about their use," Egeland said in an address to the review conference of the 1980 U.N. Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Cluster bomblets, which can be as small as a flashlight battery, are packed into artillery shells or bombs dropped from aircraft. A single container fired to destroy airfields or tanks and soldiers typically scatters some 200 to 600 of the mini-explosives over an area the size of a football field.

The campaign against the weapons has picked up steam since Israel's monthlong war against Lebanon this summer.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged countries meeting Tuesday in Geneva to review a 26-year-old treaty controlling conventional weapons to come up with ways to "reduce and ultimately eliminate the horrendous humanitarian and development impact" of the bombs.

"Recent events show that the atrocious, inhumane effects of these weapons - both at the time of their use and after conflict ends - must be addressed immediately, so that civilian populations can start rebuilding their lives," Annan said in a statement.
The United Nations has estimated that Israel dropped as many as 4 million of the bomblets in southern Lebanon, with perhaps 40 percent of the submunitions failing to explode on impact.

Those that do not explode right away may detonate later at the slightest disturbance, experts say. Children are especially vulnerable because the bomblets are often an eye-catching yellow with small parachutes attached.

Annan called for a moratorium on "cluster munitions that are known to be inaccurate and unreliable."

On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said countries should immediately end the use of inaccurate and unreliable cluster munitions because the indiscriminate deaths they cause outweigh any military advantages.

No international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions, specifically forbid the use of cluster bombs. However, the Geneva Conventions outline laws protecting civilians during conflict. Because cluster bomblets often cause civilian casualties after conflicts end - much like land mines - their use has been heavily criticized by human rights groups.

Red Cross calls for the abolition of cluster bombs

The international Red Cross called Monday for the abolition of cluster bombs, saying the indiscriminate deaths they cause -- including children attracted by their bright color and the tiny parachute sometimes attached -- outweigh any military advantages.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was stepping up its campaign against the weapons because of Israel's use of the scattershot bombs during its monthlong war with Lebanon. The United States and Russia also have resisted efforts 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."

Cluster bomblets, which can be as small as a flashlight battery, are packed into artillery shells or bombs dropped from aircraft. A single container fired to destroy airfields or tanks and soldiers typically scatters some 200 to 600 of the mini-explosives over an area the size of a football field.

Human rights groups have estimated that Israel dropped as many as 4 million of the bomblets in Lebanon. As much as 40 percent of the submunitions failed to explode on impact, U.N. officials have said.

Those that do not explode right away may detonate later at the slightest disturbance, experts say. Children are especially vulnerable because the bomblets are often an eye-catching yellow with small parachutes attached.

Spoerri said the bomblets continue to kill innocent Lebanese every week. Much of the suffering, he added, could have been avoided had more accurate weapons been chosen.

"It is simply unacceptable that (civilians) should return to homes and fields littered with explosive debris," he said.

No international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions, specifically forbid the use of cluster bombs. However, the Geneva Conventions outline laws protecting civilians during conflict. Because cluster bomblets often cause civilian casualties after conflicts end -- much like land mines -- their use has been heavily criticized by human rights groups.

The Red Cross, the first major organization to can for a ban since the Israel-Hezbollah war this summer, sought an end to use of cluster bombs in cities and villages after the 1999 NATO air war against Serbia. Its call in 2000 for a moratorium on their general use has been ignored by the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Human Rights Watch also has cited cluster bomb use by Hezbollah against targets in northern Israel, spurring fears that the weapons are becoming more easily accessible for rogue militias and terrorists.

The bombs, a descendant of the "butterfly bomb" dropped by Nazi Germany on Britain in World War II, were first used by the United States in Vietnam. Similar weapons were used by Soviet and Russian troops in Angola, Afghanistan and Chechnya, where leftover duds continue to inflict casualties.

An attempt in September by congressional Democrats to stop the U.S. military from using cluster bombs near civilian targets was defeated, and U.S. officials say they would resist attempts to put cluster bombs on the agenda.

"The U.S. does believe that this is a legally acceptable munition but, of course, it has to be used very carefully in terms of the rules of engagement," Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman, said in Washington. "One of the things we are always concerned with, in any military operation, is that civilians not be targeted deliberately and that all effort is taken to minimize any impact of any military operation on civilian populations."

American officials at a weapons conference in Geneva, who refused to be quoted by name for policy reasons, insisted that cluster munitions have important military uses, such as attacking artillery positions or runways, armor columns and missile installations. They say improvements in the reliability of the weapons should be the priority, not a ban.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev had no comment on the Red Cross initiative, but said Israel used no munitions banned under international law during the war against Hezbollah.

A report last week by Handicap International said cluster bombs have killed about 3,800 civilians and injured 5,500 more in 24 countries. Unofficial estimates put the real number of victims at 100,000, the Brussels, Belgium-based group said.

Sources: AP, The Guardian