Poland won't sign cluster bomb ban

Representatives from some 100 countries will gather in Oslo to sign a treaty banning the production, storage and use of cluster bombs, but Poland will not be one of them.

The treaty, agreed upon in Dublin in May, outlaws cluster bombs, which explode into hundreds of smaller charges, but many fail to explode at once and a vast number of civilians are killed months or years after the initial explosion. According to Handicap International, about 100,000 people have been maimed or killed by cluster bombs around the world since 1965, of which 98 percent were civilians.

Poland is among the cluster bomb makers and users, which include United States, Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan. These countries have objected to the ban and refused to sign the treaty.

Poland has argued that it won't sign the treaty until the same is done by its neighbor Russia. Polish generals have also said that the country cannot afford to produce a different weapon that would be more precise. Among the supporters will include the majority of EU and NATO member states.

Meanwhile, President-elect Barack Obama has shown a willingness during his election campaign to limit harm to civilians caused by the weapons and human rights campaigners have urged Obama to sign the treaty for the US.

Source: AP