Last update - 00:00 15/11/2006
UN: Somalian Islamists fought alongside Hezbollah in Lebanon
By Haaretz Service and DPA
A United Nations report released Wednesday said that hundreds of Somalian Islamic militants fought alongside the Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A United Nations spokesman confirmed the reports, but would give no further details. The report will be discussed Friday at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
The 86-page report was compiled by four UN-experts monitoring
violations of a 1992 United Nations arms embargo on Somalia.
According to the report, Aden Hashi Farah, a leader of the Somalian guerilla group struggling for control in Somalia, personally recruited some 700 fighters to travel to Lebanon to fight on the Hezbollah's side.
The New York Times reported that Hezbollah apparently paid fighters of the Somalian Islamic Alliance in weapons smuggled from Iran and Syria. They were also reported to have been offered training and generous financial compensation.
Hezbollah officials could not be reached for comment. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had not seen report and could not confirm knowledge of Somalian fighters operating alongside Hezbollah during the war.
The UN's report is filled with details of arms shipments to guerilla groups in Somalia. According to the report, the Somali fighters were offered $2,000 for their service, and additional $30,000 to the families of those killed. According to the report, the funds would be donated by "a number of supporting countries."
The report also accuses Egypt, Djibouti, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria of providing weapons and training to Somali Islamists. It also cites evidence of Iran offering to trade weapons for uranium, though there is no further information given on that matter.
In this summer's conflict Israel maintained a sea blockade
against Lebanon and bombarded Lebanon from the air, while the Hezbollah fired rockets at targets in northern Israel.