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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: long-gone who wrote (162944)	7/20/2001 5:51:53 PM
From: goldworldnet	Respond to of 769667

UN Arms Traffic Pact in Final Round By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer Friday July 20 4:32 PM ET UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The 189 members of the United Nations launched a final round of make-or-break negotiations Friday on a plan to halt the illegal trafficking in small arms, which kill an estimated 500,000 people every year. The United States, China and other countries remain at odds with Canada and the European Union on how to tackle the lucrative trade. Campaigners demanding tough controls on small arms exports fear the two-week U.N. conference will be a major failure. But Belgian Ambassador Jean Lint, whose country holds the EU presidency, predicted a positive outcome. ``The conference is now in its final phase, where naturally everybody is very excited and trying to fight until the last minute for their own position. But some of the difficult issues are beginning to find a solution,'' he said in an interview. ``I don't think I'm mistaken in saying this will not be a failure,'' Lint said. On the final day of negotiations, delegations were still wrangling over the hottest issues - a reference to civilian possession of small arms, criteria for small arms exports, limiting the trade to governments and a follow-up to the conference. The United States made clear from the outset it would oppose any U.N. plan that interferes with the right of citizens to own guns or with the legal weapons trade, which Washington views as domestic rather than international issues. The latest draft urges countries ``to seriously consider legal restrictions and unrestricted trade in and ownership of small arms and light weapons.'' The United States also made clear it would reject any measure that would bar governments from supplying small arms to ``non-state actors,'' such as rebel groups. While the EU, Norway and Canada pushed for tough controls on small arms exports - which would take into account an importing country's human rights record and whether the weapons would be used to fuel wars - they were blocked by the United States, China, South Africa and Arab and Southeast Asian nations, diplomats said. Whether the plan of action being debated can dent the problem remains a major question. Small arms were the weapons of choice in 46 of the 49 major conflicts fought during the 1990s - in which 4 million people died, 90 percent of them civilian. According to U.N. estimates, between 40 percent and 60 percent of the more than 500 million small arms and light weapons in the world are illegal. And the trade in these illicit pistols, assault rifles, machine-guns and other light weapons is valued at about $1 billion annually. Amnesty International and Oxfam International, the British-based aid agency, said the prospect of delegates adopting a firm timetable for concrete action to stop the illegal small arms trade is negligible. ``The tragedy is that governments are moving to tackle small arms with a shameful sloth that will leave hundreds of thousands dead each year until real preventive action is taken,'' said Oxfam representative Ed Cairns. ``We are all very angry at the conference's failure,'' added Brian Wood of Amnesty, ``but (we) are determined to step up our campaigning to control small arms and cut the killing.'' For many delegates, the most important outcome is to ensure the conference is not a one-time event. All Western nations, with the exception of the United States, want provisions made for a follow-up meeting and eventually, a legally binding accord to enable authorities to trace supply lines for illegally trafficked weapons. The United States is wary of legal agreements on small arms and believes a mandatory follow-up conference is unnecessary. dailynews.yahoo.com * * *