The independent resource on global security

Developments in 2003

The UN Security Council established on 28 July 2003 an embargo on arms supplies and other military assistance to armed groups (both Congolese and foreign) operating in North and South Kivu and Ituri in the eastern DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and against groups not party to the 17 Dec. 2002 peace agreement (the 'Global and All-inclusive Agreement on the Transition') in the DRC. This was mainly directed against rebel forces operating in the eastern part of the DRC and supported by the governments of neighbouring states (Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda). The embargo did not cover supplies to the DRC armed forces or police.

The mandatory UN embargo against Iraq was modified in May 2003 to allow the delivery of arms and related materiel to the interim Iraqi government for internal security and border protection. Technically the embargo remained in force for deliveries of heavy equipment to the Iraqi armed forces, but of course the line between 'internal security and border protection' forces and an army is vague.

Since the embargo is against the territory of Iraq , deliveries to non-government recipients, such as rebel forces or the left-overs of the previous Saddam Hussein regime are still banned.

On 12 September 2003 the UN Security Council formally lifted the embargo against Libya . The embargo had been suspended since April 1999.