By Andras Gergely

DUBLIN, May 19 (Reuters) - The United Nations urged the world on Monday to back a global ban on cluster bombs, calling the munitions unreliable and indiscriminate.

Representatives from than 100 nations are gathered in the Irish capital Dublin for two weeks of talks aimed at hammering out an agreement after several years of negotiations.

But the Dublin gathering has already been undermined by the absence of United States, China and Russia, which oppose a global ban.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told delegates that the use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster bombs should be prohibited.

"Because they are inherently inaccurate and often malfunction, they are particularly indiscriminate and unreliable," Ban told the conference in a video message.

Cluster munitions open in mid-air and scatter as many as several hundred "bomblets" over wide areas. They often fail to explode, creating virtual mine fields that can kill or injure anyone who comes across them -- often curious children.

The U.N. Development Programme says cluster munitions have caused more than 13,000 confirmed injuries and deaths around the world, the vast majority of them in Laos, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

The so-called Oslo process against the bombs began three years ago and is modelled on the campaign against anti-personnel land mines, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 and led to the 1999 Ottawa Treaty banning them.

"Sometimes it's very difficult to influence the practice of the U.S., China and Russia. These countries that are not here in Dublin," said Thomas Nash, coordinator of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).

"(But) we've seen a lot of positive movement recently from some of the countries that had been taking rather negative positions," Nash said.

While most top producers, users and stockpilers of cluster bombs are skipping the conference, campaigners point to bans on landmines and on chemical and biological weapons to prove that agreements can influence states that do not sign up immediately.

"One should not only look at who will be the first signatories of the convention, one should also look at the dynamism the convention ... will create," said Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The United States opposes a ban, arguing that cluster munitions are not indiscriminate and should not be seen as bad if used responsibly.

Other countries acknowledge they cause unacceptable harm to civilians but seek a transition period to allow them to develop alternatives. The CMC lists Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and Japan in this group. (Editing by David Fogarty)

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