Africa News on 1st October reported that a consignment of charcoal originating from Somalia has arrived at the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr. Despite conservationists warning about the negative impact of charcoal, it says, Somalia continues to lose its trees to a trade that is illicit in the country – with the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman as the key buyers. The shipment is said to have had forged custom documents indicating it originated in Ghana. The charcoal business has become al-Shabab’s most lucrative source of income, according to the UN, and the trade is subject to UN sanctions for this reason.
http://www.africanews.com/2018/10/01/over-200000-bags-of-somalia-charcoal-smuggled-to-iraq/
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-10/01/c_129964758.htm
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