By Irwin Arieff
Saturday, November 18, 2006
An advance copy of the report, obtained by Reuters on Monday, laid out the most comprehensive picture yet of disparate foreign interests pouring arms, ammunition, money, supplies and other help to Somalia's shaky interim government or its powerful Islamist rivals, despite a UN arms embargo.
Both groups have been vying for control since the Islamists took the capital Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords in June.
According to the report by four UN-appointed experts, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria provided illicit support to the Islamists while Ethiopia, Uganda and Yemen illegally helped supply the interim government.
The report also charged that Iran may have sought to trade arms for uranium from Somalia or elsewhere in Africa to fuel its nuclear ambitions.
And it said about 720 Somali Islamist fighters - selected by Afghanistan-trained hard-line Islamist commander Adan Hashi Farah "Ayro" - had gone to Lebanon to fight Israel alongside Hezbollah guerrillas in mid-July.
Several of the governments named in the draft report have complained to the United Nations that its allegations were false or unfounded.
The experts were instructed not to speak to reporters after this week's extensive leaks, but sources attending the closed-door meeting said they had provided a thorough presentation, lasting more than an hour, that was largely well-received by the committee.
Among the committee's options were to endorse the report or instead to simply refer it to the full 15-nation Security Council without its approval, diplomats said.
Committee members also would discuss next week possible council actions to stem the tide of weapons pouring into the unstable and chaotic Horn of Africa nation, they added.
Some committee members questioned whether certain of the findings could be further verified or edited before the report was sent to the council, but no decisions were made, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
To avoid further leaks, the committee members also had agreed not to discuss with the media what particular points they might be skeptical of, the sources added.
To keep the arms build-up from degenerating into war, the experts' report recommended the Security Council enact a land, sea and air blockade on Somalia and freeze the assets of Somali businesses linked to weapons violations.
They also urged high-level diplomatic pressure to stop the states involved from shipping more weapons.
Source: Reuters, Nov 18, 2006