A U.N. conference has reached an unprecedented agreeing to combat global firearms trafficking, but U.S. resistance ensured the final program was less ambitious than many countries had initially hoped for.
Delegates hammered out the final sticking points of the two-week-long conference at a tense, all-night meeting.
Nearly all the concessions on language were made to keep from crossing a series of red lines that Washington had threatened would torpedo any accord.
At the end of the session, the delegates were forced to drop the two most contentious clauses in the agreement - government sales to non-state actors and restricting civilian possession of small arms - because the United States opposed them.
I'm happy to tell you that we have a document that reached consensus on this very important issue for all of us. It has been an extremely difficult process, said Ambassador Camillo Reyes of Colombia, the conference president, who praised the African countries for their diplomacy.
Obviously, we could have obtained a better document, no doubt, he added when asked about the shortcomings of the final agreement. But at the same time I think we have a good start to begin eradicating the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons.
Though many participants were disappointed at the extent of compromise needed to bring the United States on board and the non-binding nature of the agreement, most agreed the pact was still an important step forward, if only a first step, toward grappling with an enormous challenge.
Many delegates accused the Bush administration of pandering to the U.S. gun lobby, including the politically powerful National Rifle Association, but said it was clear there would be no agreement unless they yielded.
The plan sets out broad guidelines for national and international measures to better track and crack down on the 1 billion-a-year business of illegal trade in small arms. The United Nations says such weapons were used in 46 of 49 major conflicts since 1990, contributing to some 4 million deaths, 80 percent of them of women and children.
As finally approved, the strategy to reduce small arms trafficking was significantly watered down from a draft developed by the 189 members of the United Nations during two years of preparations.
Delegates conceded most of the main points of contention to Washington, which insisted from the outset that it could not accept any strategy that did not shield private gun owners, makers and dealers.
In the end, the United States made one major concession by agreeing to a follow-up conference no later than 2006, an idea it initially resisted.
While the initial draft urged international treaties to clamp down on arms brokers and to institute a global system of small arms marking at the time of manufacture so they could be more easily traced, the final document made no appeal for such legally binding pacts due to U.S. objections.
The agreement instead urged the United Nations to study the feasibility of developing a global marking and tracing regime.
None of the measures are enforceable under international law. Instead they are merely politically binding, meaning it will be up to member nations to pressure their governments.