Government talks tough but is failing on cluster bombs - MEP

10.25.08am GMT Wed 6th Dec 2006

Liz Lynne MEP with two examples of cluster bomblets - the Blu-63 (left) which was used extensively in the Lebanon by Israel and the Blu-97 (right), used by the USA in Iraq.

The UK Government is trying to talk tough on cluster bombs now but failed to take the crucial step of backing moves towards an international ban called for by 27 countries at the recent Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva last month says Liberal Democrat Liz Lynne MEP, the joint author of a resolution adopted by the European Parliament that called for such a ban.

Responding to a written ministerial statement on the issue by Minister of State Kim Howells issued in answer to Lib Dem questions on the subject and Foreign Affairs question time in the House of Commons this afternoon, Liz said:

"The Minister tries to make out that the UK government is doing its best on the issue of cluster bombs but not only is it not backing international moves for a complete ban, it is actually obstructing them.

"While he talks about the efforts of the Government at the recent conference in Geneva to push things forward, NGO's who were present at the conference appear to be saying that the UK Government was actually preventing positive action".

"Furthermore, the Government is also opposing the attempts by 27 countries, led by Norway, to draw up concrete measures for a ban.

"The Minister says there are 'compelling and legitimate conditions' that mean the British army should continue to use cluster bombs.

"Ninety-eight per cent of causalities from cluster bombs are civilians - not combat troops. There can be no justification for the use of such an indiscriminate and harmful weapon and we must have a ban in place as soon as possible."

Editor's Notes

The Israeli Military dropped Four million bomblets on Lebanon this summer. At least 300,000 of these failed to go off but are still live in the country. Cluster munitions have also been widely used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Serbia.

The Third Review Conference of the 1980 Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW, the so-called 'inhumane weapons convention'), took place in Geneva from 7 to 17 November 2006;

The European Parliament voted in November to adopt a resolution, co-authored by Liz Lynne MEP, calling for a total ban on the production, stockpiling or use of cluster munitions.

Kim Howells' written statement on cluster bombs can be seen at http://www.theyworkforyou.com/search/?pid=10294&pop=1&p=2