The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) imposed an arms embargo today on Eritrea. The embargo is the direct result of a State Department determination, made on May 14 under section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, 22 U.S.C. 2781,that Eritrea was not cooperating fully with United States antiterrorism efforts. The statute makes an arms embargo mandatory after such a finding. According to the Federal Register notice announcing the arms embargo, the embargo becomes effective on October 1, 2008.

We’ve been anticipating this action for quite some time, going back to August 17 of last year when we posted that the State Department was threatening to put Eritrea on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The basis asserted at that time was a U.N. report that found that “huge quantities of arms” have been provided, “by and through Eritrea,” to Al-Qaeda linked groups in Somalia These arms included “an unknown number of surface-to-air missiles, suicide belts, and explosives with timers and detonators.” The State Department never carried through with that threat, which would have had broader ramifications, and instead proceeded with a section 40A determination.

The embargo announced today is largely symbolic. In 2007, there were, not surprisingly, no foreign military sales to Eritrea. Nor were there any direct commercial sales of arms from the United States to Eritrea according to the State Department’s Section 655 report for the same period.

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