Cluster bombs - ban them now says local Lib Dem MEP

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 6th Apr 2004

Lib Dems MEP, Chris Huhne, who has called for a ban on cluster bombs

In a letter to local newspapers Chris Huhne, one of the Liberal Democrats MEP's for the Crawley area has called for a ban on cluster bombs.

"I am writing to ask for support for a campaign to ban cluster bombs. These are weapons consisting of dozens or hundreds of smaller bombs designed to spread over a wide area. Up to ten per cent of the bomblets fail to explode. These unexploded sub-munitions can act as land mines killing and maiming long after war is over. The bomblets are usually brightly coloured and can therefore catch the attention of children. There have been many civilian casualties.

"UK armed forces used cluster bombs in our recent conflicts. In Kosovo, the RAF used 531 cluster munitions, more than half of all munitions used. In Iraq, UK forces fired 66 air-launched and nearly 2100 ground-launched cluster bombs.

"Estimates of civilian casualties in Iraq vary from 1,700 to over 8000. In a December 2003 report, Human Rights Watch suggests that in one town, al-Hilla, US ground-launched cluster bombs caused 90 per cent of all civilian casualties.

"There is growing consensus among many human rights organisations that cluster bombs should be banned. They should fall under the same international law as anti-personnel land mines - which are outlawed by the Ottawa Convention. Yet in 2001, the Prime Minister said that cluster bombs "are weapons that are legal, and they are necessary in certain specific circumstances."

"I find the government's refusal to endorse a ban on cluster bombs hard to understand. More than 50 international organisations, including the International Committee for the Red Cross, the Mennonite Central Committee, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Committee to Ban Landmines have called for a moratorium. It is time to act.

"I hope that your readers will be able to support this campaign and sign the petition on my web site at www.chrishuhnemep.org, which will be presented to the government.