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- May 11, 2013
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By BARBARA AMONG Special Correspondent
Posted Saturday, April 12 2014 at 16:58
Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Eritrea are the subject of a United Nations investigation over possible arms-related dealings with North Korea, in violation of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council.
But Uganda, which has been indicted by the same panel before, is putting up a bold face, saying the international community should not dictate who it relates with.
The UN Panel of Experts, in their latest report, claim that North Korea has developed sophisticated ways to circumvent UN sanctions, including the suspected use of its embassies and private companies to facilitate illegal trade in weapons.
The report, compiled by a panel of eight experts, questions a recent agreement between Kampala and Pyongyang on the training the Uganda Police and the UN has sent a team to establish what exactly the training entails.
The Panel said it had identified a possible connection between an Ethiopian ammunition producer and an entity from the North Korea, which may be in violation of the arms embargo.
The experts further claim that 18 military technicians from North Korea were involved in the refurbishment of Tanzanian F-7 fighter jets and other military aircraft at the Mwanza Air Force base.
The report is part of an annual accounting of North Koreas compliance with UN sanctions imposed in response to Pyongyangs banned nuclear weapons and missile programmes. The panel reports to the UN Security Council.
Its report cites boxes of 14.5mm machine gun ammunition manufactured in North Korea found in the stores of the African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia.
Though they did not determine when the ammunition entered Somalia, the Panel said they established that it was part of a consignment of 600 boxes originally delivered to Libya as part of a contract established in 1977.
Nevertheless, because the date of entry into Libya was unknown, the Monitoring Group concluded it could not be established whether there had been a violation of the arms embargo on the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, reads part of the report.
The investigation in Uganda comes a year after Kampala signed an agreement with North Korea to continue giving specialised training to the countries police.
North Korea has trained the police on martial arts since 1987.
In January, the UN experts wrote requesting that Kampala furnish them with details of the training the North Koreans are providing to the force.
The letter was the second in three months. The Panel first sent a request for information to Uganda in November 2013. In December 2013, the Ugandan authorities replied, denying violating the sanctions.
Uganda said the Koreans trained on martial arts, marine rescue and security and technical courses for the Ugandan Police Special Force, such as construction, criminal and forensic investigations.
The panel is however not satisfied.
Uganda, Tanzania in trouble with UN over âarms dealsâ with North Korea - News - www.theeastafrican.co.ke
