Arms talks under way in Beirut

BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 28 (UPI) -- Delegates from the United Nations and Middle East are meeting in Beirut to discuss ways of controlling the international weapons trade, officials said.

Military experts from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Lebanon, Qatar, Iraq, the European Union and the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research are attending the three day session, which started on Tuesday, The (Beirut) Daily Star said Wednesday.

Topics include methods to control the international arms trade and prevention of weapons trafficking, and laying the groundwork for a global Arms Trade Treaty to be negotiated at the United Nations in coming months, the newspaper said.