Exclusive - U.N. monitors warn of 'systematic' Somali arms diversion

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A confidential U.N. monitors' report warns of "systematic abuses" by Somalia's government, which the monitors say has allowed the diversion of weapons that Somali authorities purchased after the U.N. Security Council eased an arms embargo on Mogadishu last year.

Some of the arms believed to have been diverted were earmarked for a leader of the al Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group al Shabaab, the monitors said in their report, which was obtained by Reuters.