Accord reached on unexploded arms

Hundreds of Iraqis have been killed or injured by unexploded ordnance

More than 90 countries have approved a treaty designed to clean up unexploded weapons following conflict.

The treaty signed at the United Nations in Geneva gained support of major powers, including the United States.

It is the first time the Bush administration has signed an international arms agreement.

Thousands of civilians are killed by unexploded arms - known as "sleeping weapons" - years after wars have ended, say aid agencies.

Under the treaty, governments have promised to "mark and clear, remove or destroy explosive remnants of war in affected territories under its control".

It includes the controversial cluster bomb which has been used by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Civilians maimed

The protocol will come into effect once 20 nations have ratified it but - according to the BBC's correspondent in Berne, Imogen Foulkes, that may take some time.

The numbers of unexploded weapons worldwide are unknown.

The US admits that there are up to one million tons of unexploded ammunition in Iraq alone.

CLUSTER BOMBS A typical cluster bomb contains about 200 'bomblets', which spread over a wide area Bomblets contain explosive armour-piercing charge. Their cases are designed to fragment into deadly shrapnel Fact file: Cluster bombs

Efforts are under way to remove them but officials say the task could take a decade.

Cluster bomblets - the size of a tennis ball - can lie unexploded for years until someone touches them.

They have been blamed for killing and maiming more than 200 civilians in Kosovo since the 1999 Nato bombing.

In Africa, an estimated 24 countries are covered with abandoned or unexploded weapons.

The new treaty has been widely welcomed by aid organisations, although Handicap International has said it is "too feeble" as it includes "too many formulas which enable states to take decisions to suit them".

The US, Russia and China still refuse to sign the 1997 treaty banning landmines.