Reed Elsevier AGM faces arms protest

New allegations on Reed Elsevier's links to the most controversial parts of the arms trade have emerged, as peace protesters descend today on the AGM in London of the conference and publishing company.

According to a protest group, an arms fair organised by Reed in February in the United Arab Emirates invited the defence minister of Sudan, a regime that has been condemned by the US for sponsoring the "genocide" in Darfur.

The Campaign Against the Arms Trade also found that land mines and cluster bombs were on sale at the event. These revelations will increase pressure on Reed to cut its links to the arms industry. Reed organises trade shows for defence companies around the world, including a biennial arms fair in London.

Reed was condemned in 2005 by one of its own publications, the medical journal The Lancet, for dealing with arms manufacturers. It specifically deplored the marketing of cluster munitions, which it called "the worst kind of weapon".

CAAT found that anti-personnel landmines were being sold by a South Korean company, Hanwha Corporation, at the Idex fair in Abu Dhabi. The company's M18A1 claymore mines, which were being promoted, are described as "directional fixed fragmentation mines ... for defence of bivouac areas ... and against infiltration tactics". Many countries including the UK have signed the Ottawa Convention against the use of landmines.

According to CAAT, a Russian business at the Idex event, Bazalt SRPE FSUE, was selling cluster bombs. The exhibition catalogue said: "FSUE SRPE Bazalt is the principal organisation in Russia which designs, develops and produces ammunition for Air Force (unguided air bombs including cluster bomb units)..."

A Reed spokesman said the Sudanese Defence Minister, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein, was invited by the government of the UAE, but was unable to confirm whether he attended. He said Reed's policy was that cluster munitions could not be marketed at its arms fairs but conceded that there was an "incident" of this happening at Idex 2007. "Wherever Reed operates, we comply with the [international] regulations," he said.