UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A proposal to lift a U.N. arms embargo on the Somalian government for a year but leave in place restrictions on weapons like surface-to-air missiles has been floated among a deeply split 15-member U.N. Security Council, diplomats said on Wednesday.
The Somali government has requested that the 21-year-old arms embargo be lifted so it can strengthen its poorly equipped, ill-disciplined military - more a group of rival militias than a cohesive fighting force loyal to a single president - to battle al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist rebels.