UN eases Somalia arms embargo

by admin
Mar 5, 2013

The UN Security Council unanimously voted to ease the ban on the sale of weapons on Somalia after 21 years.

The embargo will be eased for a year, opening the opportunity for the government to arm its military with light weapons, however heavy arms will still be banned.

"The council has struck the right balance. It sends a positive signal to President Hassan Sheikh but it continues to give the council oversight of weapons flows into Somalia," Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said.

Amnesty International said that the move would be “premature”, and tighter controls on where weapons would end up needed to be in place before the sale of arms recommenced.

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