- The US and its partners met in Washington DC to discuss Somalia’s security situation.
- The US is offering about R90 million for the identification or location of an Al-Shabaab leader.
- The partners said they were working with Somalia to meet the UN Security Council’s standards for removal of an arms embargo.
The United States and its partners – Qatar, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom – have rekindled their commitment to helping Somalia meet set benchmarks by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to fully lift an arms embargo on the Horn of Africa nation.
This is at a time when the US is also offering about R90 million under the Rewards for Justice programme for “the identification or location of Al-Shabaab’s key leader”, Somali-born Ali Mohamed Rage.
Rage, also known as Ali Dheere, has been Al-Shabaab’s spokesperson since 2009 and is regarded as one of its senior officials.
He was flagged by the US as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in August 2021.
In February last year, the UN Security Council’s Somalia Sanctions Committee added Rage to its Sanctions List.
Al-Shabaab has carried out deadly attacks in Kenya, Somalia and surrounding nations.
Americans were among those killed.
Al-Shabaab is still preparing to carry out attacks against the United States, American interests abroad, and its international allies.
The partners met in Washington DC on Tuesday, to discuss Somalia’s security, state-building, development and humanitarian priorities.
In a statement, they said: “We are committed to supporting Somalia’s efforts to meet the benchmarks on weapons and ammunition management to enable the UN Security Council to fully lift the arms controls on the Federal Government of Somalia.”
The UNSC imposed an arms embargo on Somalia in 1992 in an attempt to cut access to guns for local militias – who, in 1991, forced away the country’s third president since independence, Mohamed Siad Barre.
The fall of Barre plunged the nation into a civil war.
In 2012, Somalia was on the path to political stability.
However, further conflict with Al Shabaab as well as hunger led to a relapse.
Last year, the UNSC voted to keep the arms embargo active to cut Al Shabaab’s access to weapons.
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