26 August 2006
YOHMOR: "Get into your houses ... bomb explosions," a voice regularly booms out in the Nabatieh region of Yohmor, where roads, fields and houses are littered with hundreds of cluster bombs.
As UN and Lebanese workers continue to toil daily on removing unexploded cluster bombs from the roads and fields of South Lebanon, the US Department of State kicked off an investigation into whether Israel's use of US-manufactured rockets armed with cluster bombs in Lebanon violated agreements with the United States.
According to a report published in The New York Times on Thursday, agreements restrict the use of these weapons.
Unidentified US officials told the newspaper they doubted the investigation would lead to sanctions against Israel, but said that the probe might be intended to help the Bush administration blunt criticism from Arab governments over its support for Israel's military operations.
The Times said the State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls opened the probe this week after reports emerged that three types of American cluster bombs found in southern Lebanon were responsible for civilian deaths.
Israel has defended its right to use cluster bombs and says it only deploys them in accordance with international law. It has not admitted that it used them in the Lebanon war.
On Tuesday, a UN de-mining official said that Israel dropped cluster bombs on at least 170 villages in southern Lebanon during its 34-day war with Hizbullah guerrillas. The official accused Israel of deliberately hitting built-up areas with the bombs, in violation of international law, which prohibits the use of those munitions in civilian areas.
In order to prevent additional deaths, the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is working in cooperation with the Lebanese Army's national de-mining office to clear the region of cluster bombs.
"Stop," screamed a MAG's adviser who wished to remain anonymous, as southern resident Sokna Alik was crossing a cluster-bomb-loaded field to reach her destroyed home.
The adviser told The Daily Star that gathering and exploding bombs was a difficult task, due to their presence in inhabited areas. "Sometimes, we are forced to blow up each bomb after isolating and cutting off roads," he said.
Meanwhile, engineers from the Lebanese Army are working on exploding cluster bombs in the Charabik area. Tobacco fields are also littered with these bombs, according to tobacco farmer Majed Abu Della.
