Iran lost many youths in its war with Iraq

He said there had been an improvement in the Middle East since the large-scale use of child soldiers in the Lebanese civil war and the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

But he noted that neither Iran nor Iraq had sent representatives to the conference.

Many other governments in the region are represented at the three-day conference, he said.

The coalition says it has no evidence of children being recruited or used systematically by the Palestinian Authority or armed groups in the intifada, or uprising, against Israeli rule.

It estimates that less than 1% of Palestinian adolescents have played an active role in clashes with Israeli troops.

Sudan problem

According to Mr Mungoven, Sudan is "one of the worst child soldier problems in the world".

More than 10,000 children are fighting on the government side or for rebel groups in southern Sudan, he said.

Only three countries - Bangladesh, Canada and Sri Lanka - out of the 192 UN member states have so far ratified a UN document on the protection of children in armed conflict. It has been signed, however, by 75 states.

Jordan, Turkey and Morocco are among the regional signatories of the document, which needs to be ratified by at least 10 UN members to go into effect.