PARIS, March 31: The Swiss Socialist Party is demanding that Switzerland no longer sell arms, munitions, or spare parts to “coalition” countries that are engaged in the war with Iraq. The countries that are particularly targeted are the United States, Britain, Denmark and Poland.

The Socialists were recently unsuccessful in their bid to impose on the government of the Swiss confederation a boycott of military exports to what the Socialist Party characterizes as “belligerent” countries, although the government has replied that although they will not stop shipments, they will not allow them either to increase beyond their present levels.

Given their lack of success in imposing a boycott, the Swiss Socialists, who are essentially based in the Francophone part of the country, have now filed a complaint with Swiss legal authorities against the different arms manufacturers based in Switzerland, charging them with violating a Swiss law that forbids the delivery of war materiel to countries that “have placed themselves outside the field of international law.”

The Socialists say they are also concerned with a recent contract signed between Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates for the supply of 40 M-109 armoured field howitzers, which are being delivered to the Emirates but which the Socialists fear may be used in the coalition’s invasion of Iraq.