UN Extends Mandate of Monitoring for Somalia and Eritrea

The Security Council today extended for 16 months the mandate of the United Nations expert panel monitoring compliance with sanctions against Somalia and Eritrea, while further easing funding and equipment restrictions on the UN and European Union missions in the region.

In a resolution adopted this morning, the Council asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to re-establish the eight-member Monitoring Group on Eritrea and Somalia until 25 November 2014.

The panel, which monitors compliance with the embargoes on the delivery of weapons and military equipment to Somalia and Eritrea, also investigates any seaport operations in Somalia that could generate revenue for the Islamist militant group known as Al-Shabaab that controls some Somali territory.