London - Cluster bombs are being offered for sale at an arms fair in London, it has been revealed, despite assurances by organisers that the weapon would not be marketed at the event.

And South African arms maker Denel is one of the sellers of the controversial weapon.

Denel confirmed on Tuesday at the show being held at the Excel Centre in Docklands that it made and supplied the cluster weapons.

Cluster submunitions are colourful, about the size of a soft-drinks can, and they often attract the attention of children.

Unicef, the United Nations children's organisation, has reported that more than 1 000 children were injured by unexploded ordnance, including cluster bombs, after the official end of the Iraq war in 2003; 13 000 cluster bombs had been used by United Kingdom and United States forces in Iraq that year.

Gyfford Fitchat, the executive manager for business development at Denel, said the company produced a 155mm shell that disperses 42 bomblets in the air above the target. The artillery shell had a range of 40km, he said.

"There are no restrictions on selling these, except that we need approval from our government. But I believe we would only export them to stable, mature sort of countries," Fitchat said.

He said the weapon, which was not on display, was designed to work against tanks but he conceded it would also inflict injuries on any people in the target area.

"The bomblets would rain down on an area of about 200m by 200m," he said.

The revelation will be a huge embarrassment for the government, which helps organise the Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi) gathering that started on Wednesday.

It will also be a blow to the British publisher Reed Elsevier, which puts on the biennial event, the world's biggest arms fair.

Cluster bombs are not illegal but their use has been condemned by humanitarian organisations, such as Human Rights Watch.

The likelihood of casualties among civilians, due to their wide dispersal pattern and frequent inaccuracy, is high.

Many of the bomblets released fail to explode on reaching the ground, so they pose a continuing danger.

Mike Lewis, of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, said bomblets worked in the same way as landmines, which have been outlawed under the Ottawa Convention.

"The fact that a company is willing to offer a weapon that is so destructive and internationally reviled is a reflection of how little arms companies are conscious of the humanitarian implications of their products," he said.

Officially the trade fair does not allow cluster bombs to be promoted at the event.

With acknowledgements to Saeed Shah and the Cape Times.