DFS oo Hub siisay Al-shabaab (The reported diversion to Al Shabaab of weapons shipped to Somalia government forces is “a very serious concern” for the United Nations Security Council, its president said last week.)

The government’s performance in safeguarding its arsenals will factor heavily in a planned review of the current suspension of a UN embargo on arms exports to Somalia, UNSC president and UK UN ambassador Mark Grant told The EastAfrican.

Mr Grant, whose country holds the UNSC’s rotating presidency for the month of August, made his comments in an interview in New York days after returning from a Council visit to Somalia.

A 20-year-long UN arms embargo was partially lifted last year to allow shipments to Somali government forces.

The suspension remains in effect until October, with the UNSC then having the option of either re-imposing a ban on all weapons deliveries to Somalia or allowing government troops to continue receiving arms.

In making that decision, Mr Grant said the Council “will have to take a very careful look to see if conditions have been met that allow the continuation of the suspension of the arms embargo.”

In February, a UN monitoring group reported that it had identified lapses in the Somali government’s oversight of its weapons stockpiles. The monitors said their investigation pointed to “high-level and systematic abuses in weapons and ammunition management and distribution.”

READ: Somalia on UN watchlist over sale of weapons to terrorists

The report added that the monitors had obtained documentation “revealing that one planned diversion of weapons was intended for an Al Shabaab leader.”
Rifles supplied to the Somalia National Army were being sold in arms markets in Mogadishu, the monitors added.

Concerns about lax control over government arsenals were raised in the Security Council’s recent discussions with Somali leaders, Mr Grant noted. He said the government had reported putting in place “structures and mechanisms” intended to prevent diversions.

The Council members’ talks with Somali leaders did not touch on the possibility of negotiations between the government and Al Shabaab, Mr Grant added. “The talk was of defeating Shabaab,” he said.