Somalia's forces deserting, UN is told

UNITED NATIONS - The ranks of Somalia's army and police have been gutted as most soldiers and police officers have deserted, often taking their weapons and vehicles, according to a UN Security Council report.

The chairman of the council's Monitoring Group on Somalia said yesterday that this was one of the main sources of weapons and ammunition in Somalia, along with illegal imports from Yemen and purchases of arms for opposition groups with funds from various domestic and foreign financiers.

There has been "an 80 percent erosion and attrition in the security sector, by which over 15,000 soldiers and police had deserted or defected along with their arms, uniforms, skills and vehicles in some cases," South Africa's UN ambassador, Dumisani Kumalo, told the council.

A UN arms embargo has been in place on the now lawless Horn of Africa country since 1992.

In a four-page summary of the monitoring group's biannual report for the council, Kumalo also said his committee had observed a "steady disintegration" of the government since his last report to the Council in May.

He said that 70 percent of the transitional government's revenues were earmarked for the security sector, but very few of those funds were ever spent on security due to corruption.

On the topic of piracy, Kumalo described it as a "multimillion dollar industry, with a total of 1,000-1,500 pirates employed, using over 60 small boats and mother ships."

The US delegation has circulated to members of the Security Council a draft resolution that would give countries the right to pursue pirates on land as well as at sea. Several council diplomats said the powers were too broad and predicted the text would not pass in its current form.

REUTERS