BEIRUT: Delegations from almost 80 countries are set to arrive in Beirut over the weekend to take part in the Second Meeting for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

After the first meeting in Dublin in 2008, the conference in Beirut will kick off Monday, Sept. 12, during which some 700 participants will discuss various means to clear land contaminated by cluster bombs and assist victims of the deadly weapon.

The conference will take place at Beirut’s Phoenicia Intercontinental and Monroe Hotels.

Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour told a news conference Friday that the second international meeting for the Convention on Cluster Munitions would be launched next week under the auspices of President Michel Sleiman at the UNESCO Palace.

“As you know Lebanon is unfortunately the most recent example of contamination from cluster munitions in the region, and it is the biggest witness of destruction,” Mansour told a news conference at the Ministry.

Citing United Nations reports, Mansour said that Israel had dropped four million cluster munitions in south Lebanon 72 hours before its withdrawal from the 34-days war in 2006.

According to Mansour, 400 Lebanese have been victims of cluster munitions since the cease-fire in 2006 between Lebanon and Israel.

Mansour also said that the July war in Lebanon and the destruction caused by the cluster munitions was significant in bringing together 94 states that adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions in December 2008.

Meanwhile, the assistant director-general of non-proliferation and disarmament at the Spanish Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Ministry, Gonzalo Salazar Seranes, will arrive to Beirut over the weekend. Salazar will be part of a delegation headed by Spanish Ambassador Juan Carlos Gafo which will take part in the Second Meeting for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.