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http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-wp-blm-news-bc-somalia16-20141016-story.html
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UN report finds gulf financiers aid Somalia Islamist insurgency
​oCTOBER 16, 2014​
By Ilya Gridneff, Bloomberg News,Bloomberg
NAIROBI, Kenya — Key financiers of Islamist militants in Somalia are
operating with impunity in Gulf states, undermining efforts to end an
insurgency in the Horn of Africa country, a United Nations monitoring group
says.
Traders in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are
fueling the illegal trade in charcoal from Somalia that was banned by the
Security Council in 2012, according to a report by the U.N. Monitoring
Group on Somalia and Eritrea published on the U.N.'s website.
"Poor cooperation from state members of the Gulf Cooperation Council,
notably in terms of a lack of response to requests for customs
documentation," has hampered the group's investigations, according to the
report.
Charcoal exports to Gulf states are worth at least $250 million a year and
"could be much more, given that the group may not have identified all
shipments," according to the report. About a third of that amount is
channeled to al-Qaida- linked al-Shabaab militants, who have been fighting
Somalia's government since at least 2006 in their campaign to establish an
Islamic state.
The monitoring group found that weapons flows have also continued in
Somalia unabated, even though there is an embargo on the supply of arms to
the Horn of Africa country. That's impeded efforts by multinational forces
to contain the insurgency, the group said.
Somali government forces, backed by African Union soldiers, have made gains
against al-Shabaab since forcing the Islamist fighters to withdraw from
Mogadishu three years ago. About 70 percent of areas previously controlled
by the insurgents have been liberated, according to the Somali presidency.
The Somali government has repeatedly asked the European Union's anti-piracy
mission, known as EU Navfor, to expand its mandate to help curb the trade
in illegal charcoal, National Security Adviser Sheikh Issa said in an
emailed response to questions. The trade is a "lethal weapon" hindering
peace and security in the region.
"I've raised my concerns on the various illicit activities happening off
the Somali coast and the compelling needs to expand the European Union
naval force mandate beyond counter piracy, including the illicit activities
happening within the area under their jurisdiction," he said.
EU Navfor has "significantly" reduced piracy incidents since it began its
deployment in 2008, EU deputy spokesman Sebastien Brabant said in an
emailed response to questions. Somali pirates hijacked the fewest merchants
ships since 2004 last year, as naval patrols and armed guards helped repel
the attacks, the International Maritime Bureau said in January.
"It is currently not foreseen that combating illegal trade, including
charcoal, will be part of the future mandate" of EU Navfor, Brabant said.
Naval patrols currently have "no legal basis" to act against ships involved
in the trade, said Major Matthew Allen, spokesman for the Bahrain-based
Combined Maritime Forces that patrols about 2.5 million square miles of
international waters.
"It is the responsibility of flag and coastal states to enforce the
applicable U.N. Security Council Resolutions," he said. Somalia hasn't had
a functioning central government since the ouster of former dictator
Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Somali charcoal, made from acacia wood, is prized in Gulf states because
its slow-burning nature and aroma complement grilled meats and
tobacco-based water-pipes known as shiisha, according to the London-based
Somali Economic Forum.
Gulf states, in particular the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have
flouted the charcoal ban since its inception, said Matt Bryden, the former
coordinator of the monitoring group who runs Sahan Research,
Mogadishu-based research organization.
"With the exception of a token seizure of 100,000 bags in Dubai over two
years ago, they have taken no meaningful steps to enforce U.N. Security
Council resolutions on this subject," he said by email. "Government
officials used to make light of the ban, asking UN monitors: 'Do you want
us to stop smoking shiisha?'"
An average of 20 trucks, each carrying about five to 12 metric tons of
charcoal, arrives at the Somali port of Kismayo on a daily basis, according
to the monitoring group, which was published yesterday. At least 161
vessels transported the fuel from Kismayo and the town of Barawe between
June 2013 and May 2014, while 5 million bags left the towns between
September 2013 and mid-April, it said.
The report found 33 percent of the charcoal was shipped by individuals who
have repeatedly been named by the monitoring group as being closely linked
to al-Shabaab. Two Somali businessmen with links to Saudi Arabia and
another who operates in Belgium, Nairobi and Dubai were identified as key
traders of the fuel.
The U.N. investigation, using photographs, satellite imagery and
informants, found warehouses in Sharjah, U.A.E., are being used to hold the
charcoal before it is transported to Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and
Dubai. The monitoring group didn't receive a response after writing to the
U.A.E., Kuwait and Oman regarding the allegations, the report states.
The trade in charcoal in Somalia is similar to the opium and heroin trade
that funds the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and should be eradicated,
Rear Admiral Alexander L. Krongard, deputy commander of the Combined Joint
Task Force-Horn of Africa, said in a phone interview from Djibouti.
While the issue is "outside our lane," Kongard said he would "love to see"
maritime forces in the region fighting the illegal trade. "I certainly
think it would do no harm and probably do a lot of good to do something
like that."
Copyright © 2014,
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Chicago Tribune
Received on Fri Oct 17 2014 - 08:23:28 EDT