Forty-six countries pledged on Friday to aim for an international ban next year on cluster bombs, blamed for thousands of civilian casualties around the world, according to Reuters. The declaration, which came 10 years after a landmark global ban on landmines, said the new pact should "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians". "Almost all of the countries signed onto this declaration which is a starting point for reaching a ban on cluster munitions in 2008," said Raymond Johansen, a senior foreign ministry official from Norway, which hosted the gathering. Used in conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq, cluster munitions are blamed for killing and maiming thousands of civilians, and for sowing horror decades after they are fired in combat since duds left on the ground can be set off years later. Johansen said Norway hoped the cluster bomb pact would enjoy the same kind of success as the Ottawa convention that banned anti-personnel landmines, which has been ratified by 153 states.
