SOMALIA: Mandate of UN arms embargo panel extended
NAIROBI, 9 APRIL 2003 (IRIN) - The UN Security Council has ordered an extension of the mandate of the UN panel of experts investigating violations of the arms embargo against Somalia for a further six months.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan named the three-member panel last September. The UN imposed the embargo in 1992, following the outbreak of civil war in Somalia.

According to a UN press statement, the Council's decision comes after it considered a report presented by the panel late last month. According to the report, the embargo was consistently being breached, and it recommended that the Council send a clear signal that all future violators would face sanctions.