By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 5 --
Somalia has
asked the UN
to "terminate
the contract"
of Somalia and
Eritrea
Monitoring
Group
coordinator
Jarat Chopra,
in a letter
obtained by
Inner City
Press and today published
online here.
Somalia has
asked for a
revision of
the SMEG's
last report,
on the topic
of
"misappropriation
of Somalia's
public
resources."
The letter
is signed
by Fawzia
Yusef J. Adam
as deputy
prime
minister.
Other sources
in Somalia
tell Inner
City Press
that with the
voting-out of
Somalia's
prime minister
this week, the
position of Fawzia
Adam and of
this letter
and the
US-based
outside counsel
it cites to
are now in
doubt.
In the run-up
to the
November 26
closed door
briefing of
the UN
Security
Council on
Somalia and
Eritrea
sanctions, as
exclusively
reported in
Inner City
Press and in
greater detail
in Beacon Reader,
here,
Chopra raised
to the United
Arab Emirates,
Oman and
others the
shipping and
sale of
charcoal from
Somalia in
violation of
the sanctions.
The
UAE and Oman
did not
immediately
respond to
inquiries
about
particular
ships. The UAE
prefers the
re-sale of
seized
charcoal to
its
destruction
under the
supervision
and advice of
the UN
Environment
Program,
despite
concerns about
corruption in
re-sale that
have been
raised.
The
Somalia and
Eritrea
Monitoring
Group's most
recent public
report
"estimates...
an overall
international
market value
of US $360 to
$384 million,
with profits
divided along
the charcoal
trade supply
chain,
including for
Al-Shabaab."
The SMEG puts
the Al-Shabaab
share at 40% -
and says "the
remaining 60%
is divided
between the
Kenya Defence
Forces (KDF)
(20%) and Ras
Kamboni
(40%)."
Sources
informed
Inner City
Press that the
SMEG had been
ordered out
of, or
"Persona Non
Grata-ed"
from, Kenya.
Inner City
Press
exclusively
spoke with
senior
representation
of Kenya on
this, and it
was denied.
Others said
the UN's
Department of
Political
Affairs was
trying to
resolve the
situation,
particular in
light of the
Security
Council's
rejection with
eight
abstentions of
the African
Union's
request that
the Council
suspend the
Kenya
proceedings of
the
International
Criminal Court
for a year.
Since then,
the issue has
been explained
to Inner City
Press as more
individually-based.
Then the
Somalia letter
specifically
asking that
Jarat Chopra
be fired was
obtained.
In its
last report
the SMEG named
an array of
arms embargo
violators in
Somalia. Click
here for
Inner City
Press' reporting
on those
violations,
including by
the UK,
which (overly)
"insider"
Reuters
for example
neglected to
mention in its
gushing
report.
(Actually,
Inner City
Press sources
in Somalia
link Fawzia
Adam, the request and
counsel to
the UK - we'll
have more on
this.)
In its 120 day
report to the
Council,
obtained by
Inner City
Press from
multiple
sources, it
says "with
regard to the
arms embargo,
the Committee
considered
three
notifications
for exemptions
from the arms
embargo
pursuant to
paragraph
11(a) of
resolution
2111 (2013)
[Australia,
International
Maritime
Organization
and Yemen] and
received, for
its
information,
four
notifications
pursuant to
paragraph 10
(g) of the
same
resolution."
These
last were from
Norway and the
United Kingdom
(two
notifications)
-- and from
UNPOS, the UN
Political
Office in
Somalia now
UNSOM, run by
Nicholas Kay.
The UN had
previously, it
seems,
violated its
own sanctions.
Kay
has been
talking up
charcoal
sanctions
enforcement in
the UAE and
wider Gulf,
along with
long time
hangers-on in
what we call
the Somalia
Industrial
Complex; we
still await
updates on the
Somaliland
airspace
issue.
On
Eritrea, the
SMEG said it
will meet with
Eritrean
representatives
in Paris now
in December.
We will have
more on this.
Watch this
site.
, 
