6 September 2006 - South-East Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has called for an international ban on cluster bombs during a European parliament debate on the Lebanon conflict.

Speaking afterwards, the Green Party Principal Speaker, who is also a patron of Action for UN Renewal, a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s National Council and a co-founder and co-president of the European Parliament’s cross-party group on Peace Initiatives, said:

“An international ban of cluster bombs is long overdue. After the war in Lebanon , countless unexploded bomblets from Israeli cluster bombs remain on Lebanese territory. Long after the end of the war, these munitions continue to threaten the lives of civilians, soldiers and reconstruction workers alike.

“In addition to today’s EP resolution on the conflict in the Middle East, which has the support of all political groups, the Greens are calling on the Council and Commission to explain which measures are necessary to achieve a comprehensive international ban of cluster bombs and to persuade Member States to destroy their remaining national stockpiles of these weapons.

“An immediate EU initiative for a global ban of this inhumane weapon is called for, not least in view of the Community’s responsibility for those it sends to the region to assist the international reconstruction and stabilisation effort."

ENDS