Britain has been accused of kicking negotiations aimed at banning cluster bombs into the long grass as a group of 25 countries called for talks to agree curbs on the deadly weapons.
Campaigners said the Government had blocked full-scale talks to draw up a weapon control treaty. They claimed that British promises announced last week to phase out "dumb" (untargeted) cluster bombs would have no effect.
The Government argued that Britain needed to engage with the main holders of cluster bombs, including Russia, the United States and China. The Foreign Office said that Britain wanted to work with the international community to ensure that weapons were more reliable and had minimum impact on civilians.
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