The US State Department has completed a preliminary report on whether Israel misused US-made cluster bombs in civilian areas of Lebanon.
State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said on Saturday the report will have been forwarded to Congress today, but declined to disclose the findings, emphasizing that they are preliminary.
"We take our obligations under the Arms Control Act seriously," said Cooper. "Our forwarding to Congress of a preliminary assessment is an indication of that. The Israeli government is also taking quite seriously their responsibility in providing information," Cooper said. "We are not making a final judgment."
The State Department is required to notify Congress of even preliminary findings of possible violations of the act cited by Cooper.
The New York Times reported on its Internet site on Saturday evening that the report will say Israel may have violated agreements with the US by its use of US-supplied cluster munitions during last year's war.
The paper described disagreement among midlevel officials at the Defense Department and the State Department, with some in both departments arguing that Israel violated US prohibitions on using cluster munitions against population areas.
Others in both departments argued that the weapons were used in self-defense to stop Hezbollah rocket attacks and that, at worst, only a technical violation may have occurred.
A congressional investigation found Israel improperly used US-made cluster bombs during its 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Former US president Ronald Reagan's administration then imposed a six-year ban on further sales of the weapons to Israel.
Such sanctions are largely symbolic since Israel also makes its own cluster munitions.
Relief organizations and the UN mine office have reported finding evidence that Israel used three types of US-made cluster bombs during the 34-day war with Hezbollah militants, during which both sides fired rockets into populated areas.
The UN mine office has said it had found hundreds of bomblets of the types made by the US among unexploded ordnance recovered in nearly 250 locations in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army has said all weapons it uses "are legal under international law and their use conforms with international standards."
Israel said it was forced to hit civilian targets in Lebanon because Hezbollah fighters were using villages as bases for rocket launchers aimed at Israel. At least 850 Lebanese and 157 Israelis died in the fighting.
The Bush administration warned Israel to avoid civilian casualties, but refrained from direct criticism of Israeli tactics.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS