Security Council set to lift Somalia arms embargo

The UN Security Council appears ready to end its long-standing arms embargo on Somalia. In January 1992, with the country torn by internal violence and ravaged by famine, the Council ordered all states to "immediately implement a general and complete embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia until the Council decides otherwise." The embargo has remained in place since that time, although it has been amended to facilitate a regional peacekeeping mission and to allow the delivery of equipment to the transitional government. (A good summary of the embargo’s history can be found here.)

Somalia’s still weak federal government has made lifting the embargo a priority. It insists that, amendments notwithstanding, the embargo hampers its ability to confront Islamist rebels that still control swathes of the country. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has backed Somalia’s request. The case for lifting the embargo isn’t persuasive to all Council members, however. By most accounts, Britain and France are wary. Reuters’ Michelle Nichols reports that they are advancing a compromise measure that would keep some limitations in place:

The draft resolution, drawn up by Britain and obtained by Reuters, appears to propose a compromise: lifting the arms embargo for one year but keeping restrictions in place on heavy weapons such as surface to air missiles, howitzers and cannons.

The draft resolution says the arms embargo shall not apply to the deliveries of other "weapons or military equipment or the provision of advice, assistance or training, intended solely for the development of the security forces of the federal government of Somalia and to provide security for the Somali people."

It says that these weapons and equipment "may not be resold to, transferred to, or made available for use by, any individual or entity not in the service of the security forces of the federal government of Somalia."