UN Imposes Sanctions against Somali Pirates

The UN Security Council has voted to institute sanctions against pirates, arms dealers, and other masterminds of instability in Somalia. The new sanctions include the freezing of financial assets belonging to certain identified people and groups, travel bans and the reaffirmation of an already existing arms embargo. Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, while the current interim government has remained a cipher, thanks to an unceasing insurgency perpetrated by various Islamist groups. In the past two weeks alone, Somali pirates have hijacked eight vessels, including a US-bound supertanker carrying a crude oil shipment valued at $100 million. [PE]