UN Secretary-General Encouraged By Bomb Declaration

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (file photo) (official site) February 24, 2007 -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he is encouraged by a declaration announced at an international conference in Oslo calling for a global treaty banning cluster bombs.

Forty-six nations supported the declaration at the two-day conference. Only three nations -- Romania, Poland, and Japan -- did not.

Some key arms makers -- including the United States, Russia, Israel, and China -- did not attend. Critics of cluster bombs argue they do great harm to civilians.

(AP)