UNSC extends monitoring group for Somalia, Eritrea

New York, July 27, 2013 (SDN) —The Un Security CoUncil extended the mandate of the United Nations expert panel monitoring compliance with sanctions against Somalia and Eritrea by 16 months. In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, the Security CoUncil asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to re-establish the eight-member Monitoring Group on Eritrea and Somalia Until November 25, 2014.

The group, which monitors compliance with the embargoes on the delivery of weapons and military equipment to Somalia and Eritrea, also investigates any seaport operations in Somalia that could generate revenue for the militant group known as Al-Shabaab that controls some Somali territory.

The Security CoUncil in 1992 imposed an embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia.

In March, the CoUncil partially lifted the weapons ban for one year to boost the Somalian government’s capacity to protect areas recovered from Al-Shabaab and defend against fresh attempts by such groups to destabilize the coUntry.

The resolution indicated that the arms embargo would not apply to arms or equipment sold or supplied solely for the development of the government’s security forces, but it kept its restrictions in place on heavy weapons, such as surface-to-air missiles.

Charcoal ban

The 15-member CoUncil also expressed its concern at reports of continuing violations of the charcoal ban by member states and stressed that it is willing to take action against those which violate the ban.

It also reiterates that a charcoal export ban applies to all charcoal from Somalia, whether or not it originated in the coUntry, and requested AMISOM to support and assist Somali authorities in preventing the export of charcoal from the coUntry.

Source: Worldbulletin