ID :
32718
Fri, 11/28/2008 - 09:57
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/32718
The shortlink copeid
Japan to announce $6 million victims' aid, measures on cluster bombs
TOKYO, Nov. 27 Kyodo - Japan will unveil next week a $6 million contribution for relief aid to cluster
bomb victims and education programs to prevent civilian injuries when Foreign
Minister Hirofumi Nakasone attends in Oslo the signing ceremony for an
international accord to ban the munitions, government sources said Thursday.
In a speech next Wednesday at the Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions, better
known as the Oslo Process, Nakasone also plans to emphasize Japan's experience
in demining and disposing of duds, according to the sources.
Under then Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration, Japan joined some 110
nations in approving on May 30 the draft accord which stipulates an immediate
ban on all use in principle of cluster bombs, marking a shift from Tokyo's
previous stance that advocated only a partial ban.
Signatory nations of the accord will be obliged to dispose of their stockpiles
of cluster bombs in eight years. The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force and the
Ground Self-Defense Force currently possess some 27.6 billion yen worth of such
munitions.
The Defense Ministry plans to include in its budget request for fiscal 2009
beginning in April some 200 million yen in spending to study possible disposal
measures, the sources said.
Japan, which maintains a close security alliance with the United States, had
earlier argued that cluster bombs are effective in barring an enemy landing
given the Japanese archipelago's long coastlines.
Cluster bombs are air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that eject a number
of small bomblets to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles.
But their use has drawn international criticism for the threat they pose to
civilians, including many who fall victim to scattered cluster munitions and
duds even years after conflicts have ended.
When it takes effect, the Oslo accord will prohibit the acquisition of the old
models of cluster bombs. However, some signatory nations plan to acquire
instead some new types which are not banned under the agreement as they carry
fewer bomblets and have improved accuracy.
In Japan's case, the Defense Ministry plans to seek about 7.3 billion yen in
the fiscal 2009 budget for acquiring advanced single-warhead munitions in place
of the cluster bombs to be disposed of.
Meanwhile, major producers and users of cluster munitions, such as the United
States, Russia and China, have yet to agree to the accord.
==Kyodo
bomb victims and education programs to prevent civilian injuries when Foreign
Minister Hirofumi Nakasone attends in Oslo the signing ceremony for an
international accord to ban the munitions, government sources said Thursday.
In a speech next Wednesday at the Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions, better
known as the Oslo Process, Nakasone also plans to emphasize Japan's experience
in demining and disposing of duds, according to the sources.
Under then Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration, Japan joined some 110
nations in approving on May 30 the draft accord which stipulates an immediate
ban on all use in principle of cluster bombs, marking a shift from Tokyo's
previous stance that advocated only a partial ban.
Signatory nations of the accord will be obliged to dispose of their stockpiles
of cluster bombs in eight years. The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force and the
Ground Self-Defense Force currently possess some 27.6 billion yen worth of such
munitions.
The Defense Ministry plans to include in its budget request for fiscal 2009
beginning in April some 200 million yen in spending to study possible disposal
measures, the sources said.
Japan, which maintains a close security alliance with the United States, had
earlier argued that cluster bombs are effective in barring an enemy landing
given the Japanese archipelago's long coastlines.
Cluster bombs are air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that eject a number
of small bomblets to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles.
But their use has drawn international criticism for the threat they pose to
civilians, including many who fall victim to scattered cluster munitions and
duds even years after conflicts have ended.
When it takes effect, the Oslo accord will prohibit the acquisition of the old
models of cluster bombs. However, some signatory nations plan to acquire
instead some new types which are not banned under the agreement as they carry
fewer bomblets and have improved accuracy.
In Japan's case, the Defense Ministry plans to seek about 7.3 billion yen in
the fiscal 2009 budget for acquiring advanced single-warhead munitions in place
of the cluster bombs to be disposed of.
Meanwhile, major producers and users of cluster munitions, such as the United
States, Russia and China, have yet to agree to the accord.
==Kyodo
