Britain raises battle age

LONDON, England -- Britain will abandon its policy of sending soldiers under the age of 18 to battle, but will still recruit people from the age of 16.

The policy change is a result of Britain deciding to ratify a United Nations protocol aimed at preventing the use of children in warfare, the Ministry of Defence said on Friday.

"We are going to be ratifying the protocol which we signed up to in September 2000," a ministry spokesman told Reuters.

"We ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and we have been heavily involved in this for some time."

Britain has been criticised by human rights campaigners for deploying 17-year-old soldiers during the Gulf war and the Kosovo conflict.

A report last year by the International Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers singled out Britain as one of the worst offenders among 178 countries, most of them in the Third World.

Even though one of the U.N. protocol's key aims is to raise the age of recruitment above 18, Britain will continue to recruit school-leavers nearing their 16th birthday to the armed forces for training to help make up a shortfall in personnel.

The defence ministry spokesman said the government unreservedly condemned the use of children in armed conflict.

The recruitment of 16- to 18-year-olds with the consent of their parents was different from the abuse and coercive involvement of children as members of militia or para-military forces, he said.

"Those under 18 are recruited voluntarily with the written consent of their parents and we don't employ service personnel under 17 on operations."

Amnesty International UK welcomed the move but urged the government to amend its recruitment policy as well.

"The easiest way to avoid all under-18s deployment is to change the present policy of heavy recruitment of 16- and 17-year-olds and start concentrating on bringing mature adults into the armed forces," Amnesty UK spokesman Neil Durkin told Reuters.

The optional protocol is expected to go before parliament in the next few weeks.