Britain urges making arms treaty a priority
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
LONDON, June 19 (AFP): Britain's International Development Secretary Hilary Benn today called on world leaders to make a priorty the concluding of a treaty regulating the trade of weapons.
Writing a comment piece in The Guardian daily, Benn said that there "is an opportunity-for the first time-for a global deal to control the movement of small arms, such as AK-47s and anti-aircraft rocket launchers, as well as heavier weapons like battle tanks."
Benn wrote that "the global arms trade is entirely free of international regulation ... We rely on imperfect and contradictory national laws to regulate them (weapons).
Writing a comment piece in The Guardian daily, Benn said that there "is an opportunity-for the first time-for a global deal to control the movement of small arms, such as AK-47s and anti-aircraft rocket launchers, as well as heavier weapons like battle tanks."
Benn wrote that "the global arms trade is entirely free of international regulation ... We rely on imperfect and contradictory national laws to regulate them (weapons).