UN
Recounts
Somalia
Charcoal
Disputes, Arms
Filings,
Eritrea
Meeting
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 26 --
In the run-up
to the
November 26
closed door
briefing of
the UN
Security
Council on
Somalia and
Eritrea
sanctions,
the new
Monitoring
Group
coordinator
Jarat Chopra
raised to the
United Arab
Emirates, Oman
and others the
shipping and
sale of
charcoal from
Somalia in
violation of
the sanctions.
The
UAE and Oman
did not
immediately
respond to
inquiries
about
particular
ships. The UAE
prefers the
re-sale of
seized
charcoal to
its
destruction
under the
supervision
and advice of
the UN
Environment
Program,
despite
concerns about
corruption in
re-sale that
have been
raised.
The
Somalia and
Eritrea
Monitoring
Group's most
recent public
report
"estimates...
an overall
international
market value
of US $360
to $384
million, with
profits
divided along
the charcoal
trade supply
chain,
including for
Al-Shabaab."
The SMEG puts
the Al-Shabaab
share at 40% -
and says "the
remaining 60%
is divided
between
the Kenya
Defence Forces
(KDF) (20%)
and Ras
Kamboni
(40%)."
Sources
informed
Inner City
Press that the
SMEG had been
ordered out
of, or
"Persona Non
Grata-ed"
from, Kenya.
Inner City
Press
exclusively
spoke with
senior
representation
of Kenya on
this, and it
was denied.
Others say the
UN's
Department of
Political
Affairs is
trying to
resolve the
situation,
particular in
light of the
Security
Council's
rejection with
eight
abstentions of
the African
Union's
request that
the Council
suspend the
Kenya
proceedings of
the
International
Criminal Court
for a year.
In
its last
report the
SMEG named an
array of arms
embargo
violators in
Somalia. Click
here for
Inner City
Press' reporting
on those
violations, including
by the UK,
which (overly)
"insider"
Reuters
for example
neglected to
mention in its
gushing
report.
Now in its 120
day report to
the Council,
obtained by
Inner
City Press
from multiple
sources, it
says "with
regard to the
arms embargo,
the Committee
considered
three
notifications
for
exemptions
from the arms
embargo
pursuant to
paragraph
11(a) of
resolution
2111 (2013)
[Australia,
International
Maritime
Organization
and Yemen] and
received, for
its
information,
four
notifications
pursuant to
paragraph 10
(g) of the
same
resolution."
These
last were from
Norway and the
United Kingdom
(two
notifications)
--
and from
UNPOS, the UN
Political
Office in
Somalia now
UNSOM, run by
Nicholas Kay.
The UN had
previously, it
seems,
violated its
own
sanctions.
Kay
has been
talking up
charcoal
sanctions
enforcement in
the UAE and
wider Gulf, along
with long time
hangers-on in
what we call
the Somalia
Industrial
Complex; we
still await
updates on the
Somaliland
airspace
issue.
On
Eritrea, the
SMEG is saying
it will meet
with Eritrean
representatives
in Paris in
December.
We'll have
more on this.
Watch
this site.
, 
