Annan concerned about Somalia

2005-03-02 09:14

United Nations - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan sought toughening an arms embargo on Somalia after sporadic combat.

"Greater efforts should be made to enforce the arms embargo in Somalia," said Annan's report to the Security Council, made public on Tuesday.

"Reports indicate large-scale violations of the arms embargo, not only by extremist groups and militias, but also some members of parliament," the report said.

"The importation of explosives and heavy weapons is especially worrisome. Small arms proliferation is a major concern that needs to be addressed in the longer term, but the presence of large quantities of heavy weapons (tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft guns, multi-barrelled rocket launchers and heavy mortars) poses a more immediate problem," Annan wrote.

"The continued confrontation between (the pro-secessionist Somali areas called) 'Somaliland' and 'Puntland' over control of the Sool and Sanaag regions remains a serious concern ... and the two sides continue to deploy troops in the area," he said.

Aid agencies have reported numerous human rights abuses in Somalia, where the United Nations and United States failed to restore stability in operations that resulted in the death of more than two dozen UN peacekeepers and 18 United States special forces in 1993.

The country's president, prime minister and parliament, appointed last year as part of a regionally sponsored peace process, are still holed up in the Kenyan capital, due to insecurity in Mogadishu.

Strongman Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991, plunging the country into its current lawlessness. - AFP

- SAPA