An Afghan teenager who lost both legs in a clus-ter bomb explosion helped persuade his country to change its stance and join nearly 100 nations in signing a treaty Dec. 4 banning the disputed weapons.

在一名因子母彈爆炸而痛失雙腿的青少年協助勸說下，阿富汗終於改變立場，加入將近另外100個國家，於12月4日簽署有爭議的禁止子母彈公約。

Afghanistan was initially reluctant to join the pact — which the United States and Russia have refused to support — but agreed to after lobbying by vic-tims maimed by cluster munitions, including 17-year-old Soraj Ghulan Habib (L). The teen, who uses a wheelchair, met with his country's am-bassador to Norway, Jawed Ludin, at a two-day signing conference in Oslo.

阿富汗原本不願簽署這項公約，美俄兩國早已表示拒絕支持，但在17歲的哈比布（圖左）等被子母彈炸傷殘的受害人強力遊說下，阿富汗終於同意簽署。哈比布這個青少年以輪椅代步，在奧斯陸舉行的兩天簽約會議中面見阿富汗駐挪威大使魯定。

"I explained to the ambassador my situation, and that the people of Afghanistan wanted a ban," Habib said. Crippled by a cluster bomb seven years ago, Habib said the ambassador called Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who agreed to change his stance on the treaty. "Today is a historic day," Habib declared.

「我向大使解釋我個人的遭遇及阿富汗人民希望能禁止子母彈，」哈比布說。7年前被子母彈炸斷腿的哈比布說，大使打電話給阿富汗總統卡薩，他同意改變簽約的立場。「今天是歷史性的日子，」哈比布宣稱。

Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles, which scatter them over vast areas. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years until they are disturbed, often by children attracted by their small size and bright colors. The U.S., Russia and other countries refus-ing to sign the treaty say cluster bombs have legiti-mate military uses, such as repelling advancing troop columns.

子母彈的砲彈、炸彈或飛彈裡有好幾百個「子彈」，可以散布到很廣泛的地區，有些未爆彈可能多年靜止潛伏直到被觸動為止，而受害者往往是被子彈小、顏色鮮艷所吸引的兒童。美俄等國拒簽這項公約的說辭，是子母彈仍有合法的軍事用途，像可用於驅離前進的部隊。

The group Handicap International says 98 percent of cluster-bomb victims are civilians, and 27 per-cent are children. Organizers hoped that more than 100 of the 125 countries represented will have signed by the end of the conference on Dec. 4, but Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere (R) said only 93 countries did so.

「國際殘障」組織表示，98%子母彈受害人是平民，其中27%是兒童。主辦單位希望出席的125國中至少有100個國家簽署，但挪威外交部長史托爾（圖右）說，到12月4日會議結束為止只有93國簽約。