A UN General Assembly committee on Friday voted by a large majority to push for an arms trade treaty to control the sale of weapons around the world worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

The political committee, known as the First Committee, voted 145-2 to set up a working group that will push for an arms trade treaty that would establish common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms.

The United States and Zimbabwe were the only countries that voted against the decision to move on to a global treaty.

The vote was particularly strong among countries in Africa, South and Central America and Europe, which Amnesty International said showed "the strong demand for arms control both from countries severely affected by armed violence and from major exporters."

British Ambassador John Sawers, whose country were among those that initiated the resolution adopted by the 192-nation assembly, called the US-Zimbabwe opposition a "curious combination."

Many governments and non-governmental organizations have called for a global treaty to monitor the exports and imports of weapons. The illicit trade of weapons has fueled civil wars in many continents in the past decades.

Sawers said he hopes the next US administration would reverse course and support the treaty.

"The US is a major arms producer and exporter, as are the United Kingdom and France and other countries," Sawers told reporters. "But we see advantages for arms exporting countries in having a responsible framework (to conduct their businesses)."

Amnesty International and other non-governmental organizations said over 1,000 people are killed by firearms every day and many thousands died indirectly as a consequences of armed violence.

The UN estimated that about 700,000 have died from firearms since December 2006, when the assembly began discussion on the possibility of a treaty to regulate the lucrative sale of weapons, big and small, many of them illegal.

"This big vote today moves the world closer to an Arms Trade Treaty with respect to human rights at its heart, the only way such a treaty can really stop the carnage," said Amnesty's Brian Wood.

Oxfam, Britain's largest charity group, and the US-based International Action Network on Small Arms, also welcomed the vote. Those groups have been pushing for the completion of a treaty and have formulated provisions of the treaty.

The assembly has scheduled six weeks of negotiations to complete the draft treaty in 2009.