Written question asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative) on Thursday, 16 November 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 20 November 2006. It was answered by Geoffrey Hoon (Labour) on Tuesday, 28 November 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Somalia

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the extent to which (a) Iran and (b) other countries have broken the United Nations embargo by supplying weapons to Somali rebels; and whether she plans to raise this matter within the United Nations.

Answer: The report of the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia warns of an increasing military build up, attributed to a number of states which have violated the arms embargo. Some of these states, including Iran, have denied the allegations. Together with our UN Security Council partners, we will consider action to ensure compliance and look for ways to strengthen the embargo's application. We urge all states in the region to respect the UN arms embargo and refrain from any activity, which might provoke violence in Somalia.We recognise that the UN Security Council may, at the request of an appropriate regional, multi-national body, consider specific relaxations of the embargo for peace-keeping and security building purposes, although no such decision has yet been made.

Secondary information