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<DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=afodafro@scs-net.org
href="mailto:afodafro@scs-net.org">ghassan shahrour</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">
<DIV><SPAN class=778391217-24072006>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3></FONT></o:p></B></P><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">Israeli Cluster Munitions
Hit Civilians in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:country-region></st1:place>
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<H1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Israel</B></st1:country-region></st1:place><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"> Must Not Use Indiscriminate Weapons <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></B></FONT></FONT></EM></H1>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>(<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Beirut</st1:place></st1:City>,
July 24, 2006) – <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> has
used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Human
Rights Watch said today. Researchers on the ground in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:country-region> confirmed that a cluster munitions attack
on the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">village</st1:PlaceType> of
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Blida</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> on July 19 killed one
and wounded at least 12 civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch
researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli
artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon border.</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>“Cluster munitions are unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons
when used around civilians,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human
Rights Watch. “They should never be used in populated areas.”</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>According to eyewitnesses and survivors of the attack interviewed by
Human Rights Watch, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>
fired several artillery-fired cluster munitions at <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Blida</st1:City></st1:place> around 3 p.m. on July
19. The witnesses described how the artillery shells dropped hundreds of cluster
submunitions on the village. They clearly described the submunitions as smaller
projectiles that emerged from their larger shells.</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>Human Rights Watch called upon the Israel Defense Forces to immediately
cease the use of indiscriminate weapons like cluster munitions in
Lebanon.</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>Human Rights Watch is a founding member, and a
steering committee member, of the Cluster Munition Coalition: </FONT><A
href="http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>www.stopclustermunitions.org</FONT></A><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>