29 May 2008
Diplomats approve cluster bomb ban
Late on Wednesday, 28 May, after nine days of intense negotiations, over 100 states reached agreement on an international treaty to ban all forms of cluster munitions.

Campaigners praised Prime Minister Gordon Brown for his announcement that the UK would scrap its stockpiles of the weapon. In a statement on the final day of the talks, seen by some as a personal intervention, Mr Brown said, ‘In order to secure as strong a convention as possible in the last hours of negotiation we have issued instructions that we should support a ban on all cluster bombs, including those currently in service by the UK.’

Click here to read a BBC News article about the agreement.

Since 2006, UNA-UK has, along with its partners in the Cluster Munitions Coalition, been calling on the British government to stop using cluster munitions and to work to bring about an international treaty to ban all forms of the weapon. UNA-UK is delighted that the government has agreed to back a comprehensive convention to prohibit the possession, use and trade of these unacceptable weapons.