From: Adam 

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17443145.htm

"BEIRUT, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Experts from the United Nations have
identified 10 places where Israel used cluster bombs in its air strikes on
southern Lebanon and fear there could be many more, a human rights group
said on Thursday.

At least 16 people have been killed or wounded by munitions which exploded
long after they were fired, and the casualty figure could rise, U.S.-based
Human Rights Watch said, citing U.N. de-mining teams in southern Lebanon.

"They have been able to visit only a limited region so far, and fear
that the 10 sites identified in the first two days could be the tip of the
iceberg," the group said.

It urged Israel to tell the United Nations exactly where it used cluster
bombs during its 34-day conflict with Hizbollah guerrillas. A U.N.-backed
truce took effect this week.

"With refugees streaming home, we're already seeing people falling
victim to these dangerous duds," Kenneth Roth, executive director of
Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "A failure to act swiftly
will lead to many more avoidable casualties."

Israel has defended its right to use cluster bombs and says it only ever
deploys them in accordance with international law. It has not specified
whether it used them in the Lebanon war.

Human Rights Watch accuses the Israelis of using such bombs in civilian
areas, in violation of international standards.

The group said the 10 sites identified were in the areas of Nabatiyeh,
Tibnin and Beit Yahoun, and along the road connecting the latter two
villages.

The U.N. Mine Action Service said one of its teams had found numerous
cluster bombs in the town of Tibnin, 13 km (8 miles) from the Israeli
border. Some were in the grounds of a hospital. "We stopped counting
them at 200," the team reported.

A Reuters reporter in Tebnin on Wednesday saw cars of refugees swerving
through the street, brakes screeching as they came within inches of tape
marking the unexploded bombs, which are only around 10 cm (4 inches) long.

Designed to puncture tank armour and spray molten shrapnel inside to kill
the crew, cluster bombs are released above their targets by jets or
artillery. As they fall, a ribbon on the firing pin twists to arm the bomb.
If it fails, the explosive does not detonate.

The U.N. estimates that 10 percent of all munitions fail to explode and
says that, on that basis, there could be 8,000 to 9,000 deadly artefacts
waiting to go off in southern Lebanon."


Adam

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