Czech Republic joins cluster ammunition ban

The Czech Republic has become one of the first countries to join an international ban on the use of cluster ammunition. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg signed the treaty in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Wednesday. The document will enter into force six months after it has been signed by the first 30 countries. Major producers of cluster ammunition, including the United States, China, Russia and India, have however refused to join the ban. The Czech Army discarded its Soviet-made cluster bombs in the 1990s.