Pajamas Media: Iranian Uranium Prospectors in Somalia

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Today I have a piece at Pajamas Media that reports on three overlooked aspects of the recent confidential report on Somalia produced by the United Nations. The three aspects that I explore are Iran's hunt for uranium in the Galgadud region, the report's acknowledgement of an al-Qaeda presence in the country, and its depiction of a more savvy foe than most observers realize. An excerpt:

Iran is secretly searching for uranium in war-torn Somalia, according to a confidential United Nations report obtained by Pajamas Media.

The report, which has yet to be made public, is available here at Pajamas.

The report notes that two Iranians were "engaged on matters linked to the exploration of Uranium in exchange for arms" in Dusamareb, Somalia. The arms would be given to the Islamic Courts Union (the ICU), a Taliban-like movement that controls much of Somalia.

The UN report spends little time on this surprising development, perhaps because the report's mandate is limited to monitoring violations of Somalia's arms embargo.

"We are extremely concerned about that," a military intelligence officer told Pajamas Media. This concern stems from the fact that the ICU has every incentive to cooperate with Iran: the Islamic group would be unable to mine and market the uranium on its own, and the ICU is always hungry for weapons for its war against Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG).

Dusamareb is known to be rich in uranium. Abdiweli Ali, an assistant professor of economics at Niagara University and a supporter of Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG), is originally from Dusamareb, where he received his primary school education. He reports that in the Galgadud region, where Dusamareb is located, uranium exploration has occurred since the 1940s. This exploration was put on hiatus after the fall of president Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 put the country under the rule of rival warlords.

Read the whole article here; the UN report can be downloaded at that link. I discuss the UN report on Somalia -- along with the Iraq Study Group report and the situation in Lebanon -- on the new episode of the excellent Global Crisis Watch podcast, which can be heard here.

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