Nations Rally To Sign Cluster Bomb Ban Treaty

Oslo, Norway (AHN) - One hundred countries are set to sign Wednesday in Oslo, Norway an international treaty banning the production, transport, storage and use of cluster bombs.

The NGO group Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC) said the signing of the Convention on Cluster Munitions hopes to eliminate the large-scale use of so-called bomblets, though the U.S., Russia, China and Israel, heavy producers and users of the weapon, are not signing the treaty.

Australia, Canada, France, Germany Japan and the U.K. are among the countries that will sign the treaty.

"This is not about disarmament, this is not about arms control. This is a humanitarian issue," said Annette Abelsen, a senior advisor at the Norwegian foreign ministry, which played a key role in hammering out the international agreement, according to Defensenews.com.

Cluster munitions are delivered by plane or artillery, Exploding mid-air, it scatters hundreds of three-inch bombs. Unexploded bomblets have maimed or killed civilians and have rendered agricultural fields dangerous for farming.