英国新闻听力 可怜的孩子们（在线收听）

A senior United Nations' official who's just finishes her visit to Iraq has condemned militias and insurgent group for making increasing use of children, some as young as ten, in political violence. The official, Radhika Coomaraswamy said some of the child recruits were paid to plant bombs. Many of them were exploited by armed groups because of their poverty. Andrew Bolton reports.

The United Nations' official said that since 2004 an increasing number of children have been recruited into various militias and insurgent groups including as suicide bombers. She didn't reveal the source of her information but it echoes concerns already expressed by the US military. Last month, the Americans released video footages of what they said was “Al-Qaeda propaganda” showing children being trained in the use of guns and kidnapping. The US said that the time that Al-Qaeda was teaching boys to build car-bombs and sending them on suicide missions.