The UN Security Council on Friday condemned the significant increase in the flow of weapons and ammunition into Somalia in violation of a UN arms emba
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The UN Security Council on Friday condemned the significant increase in the flow of weapons and ammunition into Somalia in violation of a UN arms embargo and said it intends to consider specific actions to improve compliance.
In a resolution adopted unanimously, the council authorized UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to re-establish a monitoring group for six months to continue investigating violations of the embargo and compile an updated list of people and organizations selling arms.
The United Nations imposed an arms embargo in 1992, but it has not been effectively enforced.
The monitoring group reported to the council last week that since March, "arms embargo violations took a sustained and dramatic upswing."
It recommended that the Security Council consider implementing a trade embargo on the export of Somali charcoal, ban foreign vessels from fishing in Somali waters, and institute a trade embargo on the export of fish taken from Somali waters.
This new approach would reduce money available to dissident transitional government ministers, who are former warlords, and others to buy arms, the monitoring group said.