Mikhail Kalashnikov … upset by rifle's misuse.
Photo: Reuters
LONDON: Mikhail Kalashnikov, father of the famous assault rifle known as the AK-47, has called for curbs on the international gun trade.
Mikhail Kalashnikov … upset by rifle's misuse.
Photo: Reuters
"I don't worry when my guns are used for national liberation or defence. But when I see how peaceful people are killed and wounded by these weapons, I get very distressed and upset," the 86-year-old former Soviet lieutenant-general said before the start of a United Nations conference on the small arms trade.
"I calm down by telling myself that I invented this gun 60 years ago to protect the interests of my country," he told The Times.
The UN will debate an international arms trade treaty at its conference, due to be held from June 26 to July 7 in New York.
The treaty, which has the backing of 50 countries, would prohibit the transfer of small arms to governments or armed groups responsible for grave human rights abuses.
"It is imperative to make a decision about introducing strict sanctions on those who violate the terms of such an international agreement," Mr Kalashnikov said.
The Avtomat Kalashnikova 47, named after its maker and the year it went into service in the Soviet army, can kill from 1500 metres.
Mr Kalashnikov, who is still chief designer at Izhmash, the company that makes the AK-47 at its factory in the Ural mountains, attributes the gun's popularity to its simplicity and reliability, especially compared with its Western counterparts.
United States spending in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to help push global military expenditure further up up this year from $US1.12 trillion ($1.5 trillion) last year.
The latest yearbook from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said the US accounted for 48 per cent of total world arms spending in 2005 and was responsible for most of the year's 3.5 per cent overall gain.
Several countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, have used a sharp rise in oil prices to boost military spending. The biggest increase worldwide was in the former Soviet state of Georgia, where military spending surged by more than 140 per cent to $US146 million.
Agence France-Presse, Reuters