U.S. not among nations to sign cluster-bomb ban

[unhappycamper]

A Mines Advisory Group member inspects a Cluster Bomb Unit dropped by Israel in southern Lebanon in 2006 during the 34-day long Hezbollah-Israeli war.


U.S. not among nations to sign cluster-bomb ban
By Doug Mellgren - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 3, 2008 16:34:29 EST

OSLO, Norway — An Afghan teenager who lost both legs in a cluster bomb explosion helped persuade his country to change its stance and join nearly 100 nations in signing a treaty Wednesday banning the disputed weapons.

Afghanistan was initially reluctant to join the pact — which the United States and Russia have refused to support — but agreed to after lobbying by victims maimed by cluster munitions, including 17-year-old Soraj Ghulan Habib. The teen, who uses a wheelchair, met with his country’s ambassador to Norway, Jawed Ludin, at a two-day signing conference in Oslo.

“I explained to the ambassador my situation, and that the people of Afghanistan wanted a ban,” Habib, who said he was crippled by a cluster bomb seven years ago, told The Associated Press.

Speaking through an interpreter, Habib said the ambassador called Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who agreed to change his stance on the treaty.

“Today is a historic day,” Habib declared.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_cluster_bomb_treaty_120308/