Cluster bombing of Lebanon 'immoral' UN official tells Israel

Pressure for an international ban on cluster bombs has intensified as Israel stands accused of littering southern Lebanon with thousands of unexploded bombs in the final hours of its war against Hizbollah.

Campaigners yesterday accused the Israel Defence Force of leaving a "minefield" of deadly bomblets in villages and fields after firing hundreds of cluster shells, rockets and bombs across its northern border in the three days before hostilities ended earlier this month.

United Nations officials said that 12 people had been killed, and another 49 injured by such bombs since the war ended and that the casualty rate was likely to rise.

The Israeli government insists that it did not target civilians during the conflict and says all weaponry used was in accordance with international law.

Israel insists its use of weaponry is legal. However, anti-landmine campaigners have been pressing for an international ban on their use, arguing that cluster bombs are indiscriminate and their use in populated areas may contravene international law.

Mine-clearance specialists said densely populated southern Lebanon was blighted by thousands of unexploded bomblets, which can kill or maim if they are moved or touched. In one case this week 35 bomblets were cleared from in and around one house, while in another a woman lost her hands when a bomblet apparently became tangled in her tobacco crop.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article1222829.ece

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations accused Israel on Wednesday, August30 , of carpeting southern Lebanon with thousands of unexploded bombs in the final hours of its month-long war, when the stage was being set for a ceasefire.

"What's shocking and I would say completely immoral is that 90 percent of the cluster bomb strikes occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict when we knew there would be a resolution, when we knew there would be an end," UN relief coordinator Jan Egeland was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Every day, people are maimed, wounded and are killed by these ordnances," he lamented.

At least 13 people have been killed and 46 others wounded by cluster bombs since a UN-brokered ceasefire took effect on Monday, August14 , and the tally is expected to rise.

The cluster bombs release small bomblets in midair, expected to fall to the ground and explode on impact across a wide area.

They are designed to penetrate thick armor as well as to kill or maim people within several yards.

The Israeli military is believed to have fired around2 ,000-3, 000rounds of heavier ammunition a day -- not only cluster bombs but also artillery shells and more conventional bombs -- in the early stages of its month-long offensive.

Up to1 , 287civilians were killed in the Israeli onslaught, which left the country's hard-won infrastructure in tatters.

Funds

Chris Clarke, head of the UN mine action service in southern Lebanon, said his staff had identified 390 strikes by cluster munitions, and had disposed of more than2 , 000bomblets since the ceasefire.

"This is without a doubt the worst post-conflict cluster bomb contamination I have ever seen."

Egeland lamented that he had not been able to get an explanation from the Israelis so far for its action.

He said that about250 , 000Lebanese civilians were still unable to get into their homes because they have been destroyed or are too close to unexploded shells or bombs.

Egeland said he would call for more funds for mine clearance when he attends Thursday's donors' conference in Stockholm on Lebanon's reconstruction.

Representatives of more than a dozen organizations are expected to attend the one-day meeting, the first donors' conference to be held since the Lebanon ceasefire two weeks ago.

Mine-clearance specialists said densely populated southern Lebanon was blighted by thousands of unexploded bomblets.

In one case this week 35 bomblets were cleared from in and around one house, while in another a woman lost her hands when a bomblet became tangled in her tobacco crop.

The UN has asked Israel to provide a list of sites targeted during its offensive in Lebanon, something which is crucial for the clean up.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch has called on Israel to provide locations of its cluster-bomb attacks to prevent deaths of returning Lebanese civilians from unexploded ordnance.

US Blamed

The top UN official has appealed to the United States to intervene to stem the flow of the cluster bombs to Israel.

"Those places who made those bombs should have a serious talk with Israel on the use of such bombs that are making our lives so miserable trying to help the Lebanese people.

"I hope the US will talk to the Israelis on that, because it is an outrage that we have100 , 000bombs among where children, women, shopkeepers and farmers are now going to tread," said an angry Egeland.

Last week, Washington said it was investigating whether Israel broke secret agreements in its use of US-made cluster bombs in its Lebanon war.

But several current and former US officials doubted that the investigation would lead to sanctions against Israel.

They said that the probe only aimed to placate the Arab anger over the US support for the Israeli offensive.

The United States had resisted for weeks Arab and international appeals to push for an immediate ceasefire when the Israeli military machine was claiming the lives of innocent Lebanese civilians, mostly women and children.

Washington has also drawn fire for rushing laser-guided bombs to Israel during the Lebanon war.

International Ban

Accusing Israel of leaving a "minefield" of deadly bomblets in Lebanese villages and fields, anti-landmine campaigners are pressing for an international ban on the use of cluster bombs.

Simon Conway, director of the British charity Landmine Action, condemned Israel's "cynical" use of the cluster bombs, reported The Independent Thursday.

The charity has published a report highlighting the use of cluster bombs in Lebanon and calling for an immediate international ban on their use.

Frank Cook, Labour chairman of the Commons all-party Landmine Group, said Israel's use of these weapons among a civilian population is "quite outrageously inexcusable."

"Cluster munitions need to be outlawed once and for all," said Susan Kramer, the British Liberal Democrat international development spokesman.

"Lebanon is still suffering from their use by the Israelis in 1978 and1982 ."

Israel and other countries which have used the weapons, notably the US in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo, often face criticism because the weapons can kill indiscriminately.

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