UN: Eritrea supplying arms to Somali rebels

By AFP

A UN report released on Friday has pointed the finger at Eritrea for violating a 15-year-old embargo by supplying arms to Islamist insurgents in Somalia, and making 'deliberate attempts' to hide its activities.

Eritrea is the main supplier of arms to Islamist insurgents in Somalia in violation of a 15-year-old UN embargo, and has made "deliberate attempts" to hide its activities, according to a UN report obtained here Friday.

" Eritrea was the principal clandestine source and conduit for arms supplies" to the Somali insurgents battling Ethiopian-backed government troops, said the report by a panel of independent experts tasked with looking into ways of improving compliance with the arms enbargo.

The panel, reporting to the Security Council, said it "has observed a clear pattern of involvement by the government of Eritrea in arms embargo violations" and concluded Asmara "has made deliberate attempts to hide its activities and mislead the international community about its involvement."

It said that to cover its tracks, Asmara used a variety of techniques, including creation of business front companies, use of different existing, or legitimate, airline companies, "filing of false flight plans indicating flight to third countries that never took place and the unauthorized use of registration numbers and call signs."

As an example, it cited the case of a Boeing 707 aircraft owned by Ghana-based Aerogem Aviation, which used the registration number 9G-OAL and the call signs FBA2515 and FBA2516 to fly a variety of weapons from Asmara and Assab in Eritrea to Somalia for use by Somali Islamist forces.

The UN Monitoring Group said that when queried about these arms shipments in a letter sent last March 14, Asmara denied that the flights had taken place and dismissed the panel's information as "fabricated accusations."

" The continuous and deliberate subtle dinsiformation campaigns against Eritrea cannot serve to cover up the illegal, dangerous and destabilizing military adventurism perpetrated against Somalia by the regime in Ethiopia and its handlers," the report quoted Eritrea as saying.

" It is sad that the mandate of the Monitoring Group on Somalia continues to be misused and abused by some countries who have created quagmire in Somalia," Asmara reportedly added.

Earlier this year, the Ethiopia-backed Somalia government toppled an Islamist militia which briefly took control of large parts of the Horn of Africa country.

The insurgents have since launched almost daily guerrilla-style attacks against the Somali transitional government, as well as the Ethiopian and Africa Union troops protecting it.

But violence in Mogadishu had receded somewhat in recent days following a massive police operation to clean up the capital for a reconciliation conference that has been under way since July 15.

Monday, the Security Council voted to extend for a further six months the mandate of the UN panel monitoring the arms embargo on Somalia.