BRIEFING BY CHAIRMAN OF SECURITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON SOMALIA

As the Security Council Committee concerning Somalia adopted its report today, members considered it imperative to recall the fact that there was an arms embargo against that country, Noureddine Mejdoub of Tunisia told correspondents today at a Headquarters press briefing.

He was speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 751 (1992).  He said the report covered the period from 1 January to December of the present year, and would be formally presented to the Security Council. 

In the meantime, he said, the Committee had decided to reiterate to all States their obligation to comply with the terms of resolution 733 (1992) establishing the arms embargo, and to urge them to take the necessary steps to ensure its full implementation and enforcement.  The Council had strongly condemned the illegal supply of weapons to recipients in Somalia, and had repeated its call to all States, the United Nations and other international organizations and entities to report to the Committee any information received on possible violations of the embargo.

In addition, he also recalled that the Council had issued a presidential statement on 31 October, in which it had again called on all States and other actors to comply scrupulously with the arms embargo on Somalia.

A correspondent pointed out that violations of the embargo had been occurring for 10 years.  Had the Committee or the Council thought to follow up on which countries were arming their protégés in Somalia?

He said discussions were ongoing in both the Committee and the Council.  No decision had been made.  However, already on 31 October, the Council had decided to send a mission to Somalia by mid-January.  They would be on site and would report within the next three weeks.  The mission would look into the overall situation of Somalia’s internal crisis, as well as the problem of arms.  The Secretary-General would designate the participants, he added in response to a further question.

Asked whether the Committee had knowledge of specific violations or violators, he said the Committee was receiving the clear impression that violations were occurring.  No specific countries had been identified as violators, because the Committee had no mechanism at present for reporting on the arms situation there.

Frankly, he said, the Committee had not met very frequently simply because it had not been asked to meet more often.  It had met once at the request of the United Kingdom, which had wanted to send a demining team into Somalia.  The Committee had, of course, approved the request.  Other than that, it could only recall that there was an arms embargo in the public forum, as it was doing now.

* *** *