U.N. Security Council orders arms embargo on Eritrea

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By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 24, 2009; A07

NEW YORK -- The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday imposed an arms embargo on the East African country of Eritrea and vowed to slap financial and travel restrictions on its leaders for arming Islamist militants in Somalia.

The resolution, which was introduced by Uganda, passed by a vote of 13 to 1 in the 15-nation council, with Libya voting "no" and China abstaining.

In opposing the vote, Libya's U.N. envoy, Ibrahim Dabbashi, said: "Libya was a victim of sanctions for many years and as such has committed itself to not be a party to the taking of sanctions against any African country whatsoever."

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The embargo followed months of frustration by U.S., African and U.N. officials over Eritrea's alleged role in arming al-Shabaab, an Islamist group that is trying to overthrow Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government. The African Union, which has sent thousands of peacekeepers to Somalia, had urged the council to act.

Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the United States quietly pressed Eritrea in recent months to cease its support for Somali militants but had made little progress.

"The council acted today, not hastily, not aggressively, but with the aim quite sincerely of encouraging Eritrea to do as this council and so many of its members have repeatedly called upon it to do, which is not to continue actions which destabilize Somalia," Rice said after the vote. "We did not come to this decision with any joy -- or with anything other than a desire to support the stability of peace in the region."

Eritrea's U.N. ambassador, Araya Desta, denied that his country supports Somali militants, saying the resolution was based on "fabricated lies" concocted by Ethiopia, its neighbor and chief military adversary, and Ethiopia's chief foreign ally, the United States.

"The U.N. Security Council has today passed a shameful resolution imposing sanctions against Eritrea," he said after the vote, adding that Eritrea has never given military or financial support to the opposition in Somalia. "We don't want to take sides in Somalia."

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In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki also dismissed the allegations as "fabricated" and accused the United States of pursuing years of failed policies in the region.

The resolution expresses "grave concern" over Eritrea's provision of "political, financial and logistical support to armed groups engaged in undermining peace and reconciliation in Somalia." It demands that Eritrea "cease all efforts to destabilize or overthrow, directly or indirectly," the transitional government.

The resolution calls on the U.N. sanctions committee to compile a list of political and military leaders who will be barred from traveling outside Eritrea and whose financial assets will be frozen.

The U.N. council has had an increasingly rocky relationship with Eritrea, which clashed in recent years with U.N. peacekeepers monitoring its border with Ethiopia and more recently refused to abide by U.N. demands to withdraw its troops from territory of its other neighbor, Djibouti. The resolution reiterates a demand that Eritrea withdraw its forces from Djibouti.

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Desta denied that Eritrean troops are occupying any part of Djibouti. He also criticized the council for failing to enforce a 2003 resolution -- and a peace accord -- requiring Ethiopia to withdraw its troops from Eritrea. Ethiopia has never done so.

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