AP: Britain urges Geneva Conventions review

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TARIQ PANJA
ASSOCATED PRESS

LONDON — Britain's defence secretary called Monday for a review of the Geneva Conventions, saying international rules of war needed to be revamped to reflect the threats of global terrorism.

John Reid said the potential for groups or countries to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction should lead to a new debate about whether pre-emptive strikes should be allowed under the rules of war.

"The laws of the 20th century placed constraints on us all which enhanced peace and protected liberty," Reid told an audience at the Royal United Services Institute, a security and defence think-tank in London. "We must ask ourselves whether, as the new century begins, they will do the same."

He suggested the Geneva Conventions — which date to 1949 — may need to be revised.

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