Time for the UN Security Council to listen to Africa, and to act

The headline to the UN's own report on the Security Council meeting on Somali last week said it all: “Many challenges still needing international attention”.

High among them is the issue of sanctions to deal with “spoilers” as requested by the regional body, IGAD, and the African Union, as long ago as May. Despite the wealth of detailed evidence available, from the Somali Government and from the UN's own Monitoring Group, and the highly public continued activities of the main “spoiler”, Eritrea, the Security Council still seems unable to make up its collective mind.

In the briefings to the Council, the Secretary-General did not actually name Eritrea though he made clear the essential need to stabilize the security situation in Mogadishu and for the international community to redouble its support and rally behind the TFG,a government which Eritrea has made quite clear it wants to see removed. The UN Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, Lynn Pascoe, emphasized the importance of the Djibouti Agreement as the structure which provided a path for the Government to follow. Mr. Pascoe told the meeting that the Government has overcome repeated attacks by foreign-funded and heavily armed groups. These, of course, included the attempted coup by the Eritrean-supported Hizbul Islam and Al-Shabaab in May. Mr. Pascoe did not refer to Eritrea by name but he noted that targeted sanctions could be an effective way to deal with “spoilers” and would allow for a flexible approach.

Some of the other speakers at the Council meeting were less circumspect. The Permanent Representative of the UK, expressed concern over reports that Eritrea had provided support to armed opposition groups in Somalia and made it clear the UK was prepared to support the AU's request for sanctions against Eritrea.. The US condemned continued military offensives against the TFG , described the issue of “outside actors” as serious. It identified Eritrean actions as serious and said it was time for the international community to consider Eritrea's destabilizing effect on the region. Bourkino Faso and Uganda called for action against “spoilers”.

Mexico, the chair of the Sanctions Committee on Somalia, appealed to the international community to support the Monitoring Group in implementing its mandate. The latest report of the Monitoring Group will be considered by the Sanctions Committee later this month. Mexico said implementation of sanctions should be consistent with the approach adopted in the sub-region. Russia condemned supporters of terrorism and called on regional states to prevent the flow of foreign mercenaries into Somalia. China condemned recent attacks on the Government and said that the UN should not wait passively for conditions to change but should play a greater role. Other members such as Austria also made constructive contributions in this important debate by the Security Council.

Eritrea, predictably, denied everything, continuing apparently to believe that repeated denials can convince despite the detailed evidence of arms supplies to Hizbul Islam and open support for Sheikh Hassan Dahir 'Aweys' and Al-Shabaab which led to the AU's request to the UN for sanctions. It is the same approach adopted by Eritrea over its invasion of Djibouti last year, claiming that any and all evidence against it had been fabricated. Eritrean Information Minister, Ali Abdu, told Reuters that “the accusations have no bearing whatsoever with the facts. They are completely baseless”. He then suggested that Britain had supported sanctions for “ulterior political motives” and its action was “unacceptable and illegal”. In a bid to try and head off sanctions, Eritrea's Foreign Minister has been criss-crossing the Middle East and Europe apparently suggesting to all his interlocutors that they each should convene a peace conference on Somalia. The intention is to appear to be pro-peace. This would appear more plausible if Eritrea had not made every effort to scuttle the successful Djibouti peace and reconciliation process last year by refusing to let Somali politicians in Asmara attend. Eritrea's open support for Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam makes Eritrea’s recent attempts at the diplomatic front nothing but crude deception. The two organizations have made it very clear they will only talk to those who agree with them and have refused to deal with any moderate elements or with the TFG.

It is in fact obvious that the Eritrean suggestion is not intended to be taken seriously. It is no more than a last desperate attempt to delay Security Council action against Eritrea.

As US analyst Dr. Peter Pham noted in a column yesterday (“Eritrea: Spoiler Exacerbates Crisis in the Horn of Africa and Beyond”) it is extremely frustrating on one of the rare occasions when Africa has managed to act together, as they did in calling for sanctions against Eritrea, that its efforts have been largely ignored by the UN Security Council, “to the detriment of both the African states immediately bearing the brunt of the assaults from Asmara and the broader security interests of the international community.” Dr. Pham rehearsed the evidence against Eritrea in detail, adding that while deliveries of arms and ammunition by small boats originating in Eritrea continue fairly regularly “a far greater proportion of Eritrean assistance...now takes the form of contributions in cash or kind.”

Cash is made available from an Eritrean embassy account in a nearby country or hand-carried from Asmara by courier. It may then, he said, be sent via Western Union or hawala agencies to Somalia. The cash may be handed to sympathetic businessmen who use it to buy food, clothes or electronic goods, which are then exported to Somalia and sold to finance the “armed struggle”. Dr. Pham adds that the UN Monitoring Group believes Eritrea's arms embargo violations take place with the knowledge and authorization of senior officials in the Eritrean Government or the ruling PFDJ, and that operational responsibility lies with Eritrean intelligence services. Dr. Pham concludes by arguing that President Issayas believes “he [can] stoke the fires of Islamic extremism and yet maintain control of the flames, which he [hopes] to direct at his longtime Ethiopian rival.” He adds : “Before the entire neighborhood and areas beyond are consumed in the conflagration unleashed by the increasingly erratic Eritrean despot, the international community needs to demonstrate in no uncertain terms that his dangerous gamble is a sure loser.” It is hard to disagree.

It is indeed true, as the UN suggested, that many challenges still need international attention in Somalia. One of these is Africa's request for action against “spoilers” in Somalia and Eritrea. There is no doubt that this would be one simple but immensely valuable way to assist the resolution of some of the problems of the TFG. There is really no further reason for the Security Council to fail to act.

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