The United Nations Security Council decided Monday to extend the mandate of a panel monitoring its arms embargo in Somalia as violence continued to send people fleeing from the capital, Mogadishu, according to dpa. The council extended the monitoring group's mandate by another six months and asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appoint new members to continue to investigate "all activities" that may violate the arms embargo, which was first decreed in 1992. The panel will investigate activities related to "the financial, maritime and other sectors, which generate revenues used to commit arms embargo violations." It will also investigate "any means of transport, routes, seaports, airports and other facilities used in connections with arms embargo violations." The council asked the panel to refine and update information on individuals and entities that violate the embargo. The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said Monday that more than 10,000 people fled Mogadishu last week, the first time since June that more people left than returned to the capital. UN agencies have estimated that at least one-third of Mogadishu's residents have fled because of fighting this year between government and Muslim forces.
