Foreign help building Eritrea bases violates embargo
UNITED NATIONS- United Nations sanctions monitors warned in an annual report released on Friday that possible foreign support for a new military base and seaport in Eritrea and the presence of foreign weapons and equipment were likely in violation of an arms embargo.
The monitors told the U.N. Security Council last year that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had established a military presence in Eritrea as part of the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, which lies just 40 km (25 miles) across the Red Sea from the poor Horn of Africa nation.
They said the use of Eritrea's land, waters and airspace by other countries to conduct military operations in a third state was not a sanctions violation, but warned that "compensation diverted directly or indirectly towards activities that threatened peace and security in the region, or for the benefit of the Eritrean military, would constitute a violation."
In the past year the U.N. monitors collected evidence, including the construction of a new military base at Assab airport and a new seaport next to it, indicating "there may have been external support for infrastructure development that could benefit the Eritrean military."
