http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-01/eritrea-faces-diluted-un-sanctions-resolution-in-december-vote.html
Eritrea Faces Diluted UN Sanctions Resolution in December Vote
By Flavia Krause-Jackson - Nov 30, 2011 7:44 PM ET
Eritrea, one of the world’s poorest economies, faces additional
sanctions at the United Nations as mining companies are told to
exercise greater “vigilance” in doing business with the African
nation.
UN member states “shall undertake appropriate measures to promote the
exercise of vigilance” in their dealings with Eritrea’s mining
industry, according to a copy of the draft resolution, which adds to
2009 sanctions that included an asset freeze and a travel ban on
government leaders.
Eritrea’s $2.59 billion economy relies on mining and gold that has
drawn investment from companies including Canada’s Nevsun Resources
Ltd. The push to punish Eritrea was triggered by a UN report in July
that said its government planned a failed plot in January to disrupt
the African Union summit in Addis Ababa by bombing civilian and
governmental targets. The resolution ties Eritrea directly to the
attack.
The current text was watered down from an October draft that banned
companies from investing in mineral resources and prohibited the
payment of a remittances tax.
The resolution now “condemns” the use of a 2 percent tax paid by
Eritreans abroad “for purposes such as procuring arms and related
materiel for transfer to armed opposition groups” and “decides Eritrea
shall cease these practices.” The Eritrean government is suspected of
raising money with the so- called Diaspora tax to fund terrorism.
At the urging of Ethiopia, Gabon introduced the measure as one of the
council’s three African members. The U.S. had pushed for a vote today,
while Russia said Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki should be allowed
to present his case in person to the 15-member panel. The vote may
take place on Dec. 5 when Russia takes over the rotating presidency of
the council.
Council ‘Spectacle’
“We still think it’s redundant and likely counterproductive to have a
spectacle in the Security Council in which heads of state make
emotional statements on the eve of, on the same day as the vote,” U.S.
Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters in New York. “But if that’s what
they choose to do, it’ll happen, and we’ll vote on Monday.”
Eritrea has been ruled byAfeworki, a former rebel leader, since it
gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The UN has already
sanctioned the country in the Horn of Africa for supporting
al-Qaeda-linked terrorists fighting to topple the Western-backed
government of Somalia.
Al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based terrorist organization that the U.S. says
has links to al-Qaeda, generates between $70 million and $100 million
a year in revenue from taxation and extortion in areas under its
control, according to the UN report.
Gaining Control
Islamist groups including al-Shabaab and the Hisb-ul-Islam movement,
previously based in Eritrea, have gained control of most of southern
and central Somalia in their bid to oust President Sheikh Sharif
Sheikh Ahmed’s UN-backed transitional government. Somalia hasn’t had a
functioning central administration since the removal of Mohamed Siad
Barre, the former dictator, in 1991.
U.S.-backed Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in December 2006, ousting
the Islamic Courts Union government that had briefly captured southern
Somalia. The troops withdrew in January.
To contact the reporters on this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at the
United Nations at fjackson_at_bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at
msilva34_at_bloomberg.net
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Received on Thu Dec 01 2011 - 09:51:53 EST