Julie

EXCLUSIVE-UN report links Somali Islamists, foreign militants
Mon 13 Nov 2006 16:22:03 GMT
(Recasts, adds details throughout)

By C. Bryson Hull

NAIROBI, Nov 13 (Reuters) - A web of nations and armed groups are fuelling Somalia's march to war, according to a U.N. commissioned report that offers detailed evidence of cooperation between Somali Islamists and established Islamic militants.

An advance copy of the report to the U.N. Security Council, obtained by Reuters on Monday, paints the most comprehensive picture yet of disparate foreign interests hardening into alliances with Somalia's interim government and its powerful Islamist rivals.

It also says Iran may have sought to trade arms for uranium from Somalia or elsewhere in Africa to fuel its nuclear ambitions.

Both groups vying for control of the Horn of Africa nation since Islamists took the capital Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords in June have extensive foreign state backing.

Ethiopia and Eritrea, backing the government and Islamists respectively, are the biggest violators of a 1992 U.N. arms embargo on Somalia, the report says, adding they have sent in vast quantities of weapons and equipment, and provided training.

"There is the distinct possibility that the momentum towards a military solution inside Somalia may spill over into a direct state-to-state conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as acts of terrorism in other vulnerable states of the region," it says.

The report by the panel, which includes two arms experts from Belgium and the United States, a maritime expert from Kenya and a Colombian finance expert, covers violations of the Somali arms ban since June.



ARMS FOR URANIUM?

Earlier reports by the experts monitoring violations of a the world's most flouted arms ban have documented state intervention, but for the first time the panel's report gives evidence of organised intervention involving foreign militants.

The Islamists have always denied the presence of foreign fighters in the ranks of their military, which far eclipses the government in size, strength and organisation.

But the report said about 720 Somali Islamist fighters with combat experience -- selected by Afghanistan-trained hardline Islamist commander Adan Hashi Farah "Ayro" -- went to Lebanon to fight Israel along Hezbollah in mid-July.

The fighters were paid $2,000 and as much as $30,000, to be given to their families, if they were killed, the report says.

At least 100 Somali fighters returned, along with five Hezbollah members, while an unknown number stayed in Lebanon for advanced military training, it states.

"In exchange for the contribution of the Somali military force, Hezbollah arranged for additional support to be given ... by the governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Syrian Arab Republic, which was subsequently provided," it says.

That included shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, grenade launchers, machine guns, ammunition, medicine, uniforms and other supplies. Additionally, Syria hosted about 200 Islamist fighters for training in guerrilla warfare, the report says.

The report also gives a hint that Iran, locked in a battle with the West over its nuclear ambitions, may have sought help in finding uranium in the hometown of Somali Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.

"At the time of the writing of the present report, there were two Iranians in Dusa Mareb engaged in matters linked to uranium in exchange for arms," it says, but gives no more information.

Syria denied any involvement, while Iran denied sending weapons before July but did not respond to a letter querying it about involvement after that point.

The report also says foreign fighters from Pakistan and elsewhere are involved with the Islamists, who aim to impose strict sharia law on Somalia's 10 million people.



WIDE WEAPONS WEB

Djibouti, Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia were also accused of providing support ranging from weapons to money and military supplies including medicine to the Islamists. An Egyptian official contacted about the report called it "laughable".

The report says Yemen and Ethiopia shipped loads of weapons to the government. Ethiopia also helped reconstitute the militias led by warlords the Islamists kicked out of Mogadishu in June, sparking their rise to power.

Uganda, which also backs the government, sent parts for anti-aircraft guns, supplies for building a military camp, along with an unspecified number of soldiers security experts have told Reuters numbered about 100.

To keep the build-up from turning to war, the report recommended the Security Council enact a land, sea and air blockade on Somalia and freeze the assets of Somali businesses linked to weapons violations.

It also urges high-level diplomatic pressure to stop the state involved from shipping more weapons. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Wright in Cairo)

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/Cris...ryId=L13897046