Somalia urges UN to lift arms embargo
2013-02-15 09:54
New York - Somalia's foreign minister urged the UN Security
Council on Thursday to lift the 20-year-old arms embargo on the country so that
its armed forces can fight off al-Qaeda linked militants and consolidate peace.
The foreign minister addressed the council amid allegations
that Iran and Yemen have supplied weapons to the Somali militant group al-Shabaab.
Iran rejected those allegations as an "absurd fabrication."
A report by a UN-appointed committee monitoring sanctions
against Somalia and Eritrea report links Iran and Yemen to the supply of
weapons to al-Shabaab, according to a UN diplomat, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because the report has not been made public.
Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee, in a letter to the
Security Council obtained on Thursday by The Associated Press, said the
allegations were part of a "malicious campaign". He said the
monitoring group put forward "unfounded allegations and strange
fabrications" without first informing the Iranian government and said the
contents were leaked "for propaganda purposes." He urged the
monitoring group to "address this unfair move and remedy the issue".
Urging the Security Council to lift the arms embargo,
Somalia's Foreign Minister Fawzia YH Adam, who is also deputy prime minister,
told members that the government will institute measures "to ensure that
armaments do not fall into the wrong hands."
The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs
Taye-Brook Zerihoun reported to the council earlier on Thursday on
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's suggestion last week for "a calibrated
approach" to the relaxation of the arms embargo.
It would take into account key factors including "the
pressing need to support the development of Somali forces while avoiding the
proliferation of uncontrolled weapons that could exacerbate the security
situation", Zerihoun said.
Top priority
Somalia is trying to establish its first functional
government after two decades of chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew
longtime dictator Siad Barre and then turned on one another. Al-Shabaab rebels
have been pushed out of the cities of southern and central Somalia by African
Union forces, but they are not yet defeated.
Adam said that "getting rid of the remnants of the al-Shabaab
is a top priority for us".
This requires strengthening the Somali Defense Forces
through training, equipment and restructuring, she said.
"Consolidating peace in the recovered areas in southern
Somalia and securing in a timely manner the necessary resources both military
and financial is another priority," Adam said. "The lifting of the
arms embargo is a prerequisite for attaining this goal."
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has told the UN he
wants rifles, light machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to
fight the militants and ensure peace. The African Union has backed the lifting
of the arms embargo.
Zerihoun, the UN official, told the council that despite
several attacks by al-Shabaab "there is now a tangible sense of security
and optimism in Mogadishu", the capital. But he said the presence of the
militants still hampers freedom of movement for Somalis.
He stressed that development of the security sector must be
coupled with stepped up support for judicial reform and respect for human
rights.
"The secretary-general is particularly concerned by the
ongoing threat to journalists working in Somalia and by the number of reported
incidences of sexual violence," Zerihoun said.
Somalia is one of the world's most dangerous countries for
journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Last year, 18
Somali journalists were killed, yet no one was arrested. So far this year one
reporter has been killed making it 45 journalists killed since 2007.
Zerihoun mentioned the case of a reporter who was sentenced
to a year in prison on 5 February after interviewing a woman who said she was
raped by security forces. He said the case "underscores the considerable
investment needed to develop a national framework that promotes international
human rights norms".
Judges in a Mogadishu court decided the woman falsely
claimed she was raped and had insulted the government. Rights groups have
decried the case as politically motivated because the woman had accused
security forces of the assault.
- SAPA
