The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday lifted sanctions on Eritrea following a historic peace deal with Ethiopia and improved relations with Djibouti.
The Security Council unanimously adopted the UN-drafted resolution lifting the arms embargo, all travel bans, asset freezes and targeted sanctions against Eritrea.
Asmara and Ethiopia signed a peace agreement in July that ended two decades of hostility between the Horn of Africa nations.
The Security Council resolution called on Eritrea and Djibouti to continue efforts to settle a 2008 border dispute, and also urged Asmara to release information concerning Djiboutian soldiers that went missing in clashes a decade ago.
At France’s request, the Security Council will hear a report every six months on Eritrea’s efforts to normalize relations with Djibouti, where France, the US and China all have military bases.
The Security Council imposed the sanctions on Eritrea in 2009 for its alleged support of Al-Shabaab insurgents in Somalia, a claim Asmara has long denied.
The resolution acknowledged that UN monitors have “not found conclusive evidence that Eritrea supports Al-Shabaab” and declared that the sanctions and arms embargo ended with the adoption of the measure.
