UN resisting African calls to end Somalia arms embargo
Wed Oct 31, 2012 11:25pm GMT
* UN extends African Union peacekeeping mandate by 1 week
* Kenya suggests ending ban on Somalia charcoal exports
* Security Council reluctant to lift charcoal ban-envoys
* Charcoal was al Shabaab's top source of revenue-panel
By Louis Charbonneau
NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday gave the
African Union's peacekeeping mission in Somalia a seven-day extension while
its 15 members weigh an African Union request to review a two-decade old
arms embargo to help the government defeat Islamist rebels.
U.N. diplomats said that the council remained divided on the union's request
to begin allowing the sale of arms to the Somali government. It is also
split on calls to permit the export of stocks of charcoal, the Islamist al
Shabaab rebels' principal source of funds, from the war-ravaged Horn of
Africa nation.
"I expect the arms embargo may remain in place for the time being," a
council diplomat said. "There's no consensus on lifting it." Other envoys
said they would continue discussions.
The Security Council voted unanimously to extend the U.N. mandate of the
African Union's AMISOM peacekeeping force, which was due to expire at the
end of Wednesday, until Nov. 7. Council diplomats said that they would
prepare a resolution by next Wednesday that would extend the mandate for a
full year.
Diplomats said they would use the next week to complete closed-door
discussions on Somalia that were interrupted with the arrival on Monday of
the superstorm Sandy, which brought power outages and chaos to much of
Manhattan and caused flooding at U.N. headquarters along New York City's
East River.
Due to flooding in the current Security Council chambers, Wednesday's
meeting took place in a temporary container-like structure built to house
parts of the U.N. secretariat and conference rooms during a years-long
renovation of the main buildings due to finish in 2013.
The African Union has appealed to the council to review its arms embargo on
Somalia to help the country rebuild its army and consolidate recent military
gains against al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab.
Somalia wants help strengthening its poorly equipped and often
ill-disciplined military that is more of a loosely affiliated umbrella group
of rival militias than a cohesive fighting force loyal to a single
president.
The council imposed the embargo in 1992 to cut the flow of arms to feuding
warlords, who a year later ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and plunged
Somalia into civil conflict.
CHARCOAL EXPORTS - A BURNING ISSUE
On Tuesday the African Union issued a statement saying that it "urges the
Security Council to look into the issue of the large volume of charcoal
found in ... Kismayu by AMISOM." It suggested the council approve an
exemption for its export.
Envoys said Kenya also supports approving the sale of stocks of charcoal in
the Somali city of Kismayu, which Kenyan forces under the umbrella of AMISOM
took control of late last month, despite a U.N. ban on charcoal exports.
Diplomats said that the council was divided on the issue of the charcoal
sales, with some countries fearing that the Kismayu merchants lobbying for
the sale of the charcoal might still have connections with al Shabaab.
Kenyan troops crossed into Somalia a year ago to crush the militants whom it
blamed for attacks and kidnappings on its soil. The Somali port city of
Kismayu was al Shabaab's last major bastion before its forces were driven
out.
Kenya has troops in Kismayu but has made clear it would like to avoid
appearing like an occupation force. Diplomats said the Security Council
might find it difficult to allow charcoal exports from Somalia at the
moment.
"It's hard to imagine the council permitting the export of charcoal under
the circumstances," a diplomat said. "Those who would benefit from the coal
may still be funding al Shabaab."
Council diplomats said that the United States was among the countries that
would agree to the export of the charcoal if the Somali government approved.
But the Somali government has yet to back the idea, the envoys said.
"Negotiations are ongoing and we're closely consulting the Somalis and other
regional partners," another diplomat said.
Some residents of Kismayu said that selling their stored charcoal was an
urgent necessity.
"There is life and business when there is export and import," shopkeeper
Ismail Sabdow told Reuters from Kismayu. "I believe the government ought to
lift the ban on charcoal until people have other options."
The council banned the sale abroad of Somali charcoal in February in an
attempt to cut off al Shabaab's funding.
According to the Security Council's Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,
an independent panel that reports on compliance with U.N. sanctions,
charcoal exports from southern Somalia in 2011 generated over $25 million
for al Shabaab.
The charcoal export ban was first suggested by the Monitoring Group and
envoys said the panel has reservations about the idea of lifting it.
Faced with a military offensive by African Union and Somali forces, al
Shabaab has pulled out of a number of urban strongholds in southern and
central Somalia. They still hold sway over vast rural areas where the
central government and regional administrations have minimal control.
(Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Nairobi, Aaron Maasho in Addis
Ababa and Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
