The international Committee of the Red Cross is calling for the abolition of cluster bombs. Dr. Philip Spoerri of the Red Cross made the announcement on Monday.

• Dr. Philip Spoerri: “The ICRC believes that the time has come for strong international action to end the predictable pattern of human tragedy associated with cluster munitions… the ICRC will call upon all states to take the following steps: to immediately end the use of inaccurate and unreliable cluster munitions; to prohibit the targeting of cluster munitions against any military objective located in a populated area; to eliminate stocks of inaccurate and unreliable cluster munitions and, pending their destruction, not to transfer such weapons to other countries.”

The Red Cross said it was stepping up its campaign against cluster bombs because of Israel’s extensive use of the weapons in Lebanon. A US State Department spokesperson said the Bush administration still believes that cluster bombs are a legally acceptable munition,