US investigating Israel cluster bomb use in Lebanon Attacks
Pakistan Times Wire Service

WASHINGTON: The United States Friday said it was investigating whether Israel broke secret agreements in its use of US-made cluster bombs in its attacks on Lebanon.

The investigation was launched by the State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls following reports that Israeli forces used the anti-personnel cluster bombs in civilian areas in southern Lebanon.

"We have seen the reports, and we are looking into it," said Edgar Vasquez, a department spokesman, confirming details of the probe first reported by a US newspaper.

Cluster bombs scatter a load of small "bomblets" over a wide area, and remnants of these munitions have been found in many parts of southern Lebanon, report says.

The UN Mine Action Coordination Committee reported Thursday that it had confirmed 267 locations where cluster bombs struck in south Lebanon, during Israel's offensive against Hezbollah.

The report also quoted unnamed officials as saying that Israel would not likely be found to have violated its agreements on cluster bomb use, which date back to the 1970s.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch reported last week that Israel had used artillery-fired cluster munitions in at least ten locations in Lebanon.

"Because of their wide dispersal pattern, cluster munitions should never be used in populated areas," Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said.

"The laws of war do not ban cluster munitions in all circumstances. But the use of cluster munitions in or near civilian areas violates the ban on indiscriminate attacks, because these weapons cannot be directed at only military targets," he added.

HRW noted that cluster bombs have a high "dud" rate which leaves dangerous bomblets behind that can linger as threats for years.●