By KUNA,
London : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Thursday he was “delighted” after diplomats from more than 100 countries unanimously passed a treaty to ban the use of cluster bombs around the world.
Delegates in Dublin, in the Irish Republic, also agreed to destroy any stockpiles of the weapons within the next eight years.
Campaigners against the use of cluster bombs declared the historic announcement in the Irish capital a triumph.
Brown also promised that Britain would work to encourage the widest possible international support for a ban on the weapons, which he said caused “unacceptable” harm to civilians.
The breakthrough in the historic document came after 10 days of painstaking negotiations.
Diplomats from 109 countries also heard first-hand accounts of cluster bomb attacks from survivors from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Lebanon, Serbia and Vietnam.
However military superpowers such as the US, Israel, Russia, and China stayed away from the conference and have not signed up to the treaty.
In a statement released by 10 Downing Street, Brown said “We have decided, after a great deal of discussion, that we can help break the log jam so that we can get international agreement that would ban cluster bombs”.
“We have decided we will take all our types of cluster bombs out of service”.
“I look forward to other countries following us in this action and I look forward to other countries being able to take these cluster bombs out of service”.
“I think this would be a big step forward to make the world a safer place”, the Prime Minister added.
For his part, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal (correct) Martin welcomed the successful conclusion of the negotiations.
“This is a very strong and ambitious text which nevertheless was able to win consensus among all delegations. It is a real contribution to international humanitarian law”, he said.
Martin added that the treaty, which will be formally adopted tomorrow, imposes a comprehensive ban on cluster bombs and will offer significant assistance to victims and for clearance of affected areas.
Cluster bombs scatter small “bomblets” across a wide area and can prove deadly to civilians, particularly children, who pick up munitions that have failed to detonate on impact.