Tuesday 2nd October, 2018
Somali Ambassador to
the United Nations Abukar Osman said the ship, which has docked at the Iraqi
port of Umm Qasri, is said to have forged custom documents indicating to be
from Ghana.
“The federal
(Xinhua) – The Somali government on Monday called on Iraq to launch urgent
investigations into a ship carrying 200,000 bags of charcoal smuggled out of
the Horn of Africa nation.
Somali Ambassador to
the United Nations Abukar Osman said the ship, which has docked at the Iraqi
port of Umm Qasri, is said to have forged custom documents indicating to be
from Ghana.
“The federal
government of Somalia calls on the Iraqi government to expedite investigations
and be swift in actions to halt further clearance of the said ship,” Osman
said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
He called on
international partners to support efforts by Mogadishu in preventing charcoal
smuggling out of Somalia.
Osman, who regretted
the incident, condemned all parties involved in the racket and those who have
been engaged in the illegal export of charcoal from Somalia.
“Illegal charcoal
smuggling is detrimental to the security and stability of Somalia, since
revenue from illegal charcoal export is the main financial source for the
terrorist organizations of al-Shabab and al-Qaida,” Osman said.
The charcoal business
has become al-Shabab’s most lucrative source of income, according to the United
Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea.
According to a UN
monitoring report, the militant group always pays for weapons and fighters with
revenue it earns from taxing traders and from the export of charcoal, trade
that was banned by UN Security Council Resolution 2036, which was adopted in
2012.
GNA