IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1708 
Recognizing the destructive role of the Government of Eritrea and calling 
on the Secretary of State to designate Eritrea as a country that has 
provided support for international terrorism. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 
Mr. ROYCE (for himself and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the destructive role of the Government of Eri-
trea and calling on the Secretary of State to designate 
Eritrea as a country that has provided support for inter-
national terrorism. 
Whereas the State of Eritrea is supporting al Qaeda linked 
militants in the Horn of Africa, including al Shabaab, 
which has been designated a foreign terrorist organiza-
tion under section 219 of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act and as a specially designated global terrorist 
under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, and is of 
increasing concern to United States counterterrorism of-
ficials; 
Whereas the United Nations Sanctions Monitoring Group on 
Somalia, established by a committee of the United Na-
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•HRES 1708 IH 
tions Security Council pursuant to Resolutions 751 
(1992) and 1519 (2003), reported in July 2007 ‘‘that 
huge quantities of arms have been provided to the 
Shabaab by and through Eritrea’’, and ‘‘the weapons in 
caches and otherwise in possession of the Shabaab in-
clude an unknown number of surface-to-air missiles, sui-
cide belts, and explosives with timers and detonators’’; 
Whereas in April 2008, the United Nations Sanctions Moni-
toring Group on Somalia reported, ‘‘the Government of 
Eritrea continues to provide support to groups that op-
pose the Transitional Federal Government in the form of 
arms and military training to fighters of the Shabaab’’, 
and that on or about January 8, 2008, an arms shipment 
from Eritrea arrived in Mogadishu containing dismantled 
RPG–7s, hand grenades, anti-tank mines, detonators, 
pistols, mortar shells, AK–47 assault rifles, PKM ma-
chine guns, RPG–2s, small mortars, FAL assault rifles, 
rifle-fired grenades for the FAL, M–16s, and explosives; 
Whereas the April 2008 report of the United Nations Sanc-
tions Monitoring Group on Somalia also found that, ‘‘to-
wards the end of 2007, about 120 fighters of the 
Shabaab travelled to Eritrea for the purpose of attending 
military training at a military base located near the Ethi-
opian border.’’; 
Whereas in its December 2008 report, the United Nations 
Sanctions Monitoring Group on Somalia identified Eri-
trea as a ‘‘principal violator’’ of the arms embargo on So-
malia and asserted that ‘‘Eritrean arms embargo viola-
tions take place with the knowledge and authorization of 
senior officials within the Eritrean Government and the 
ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice 
(PFDJ).’’; 
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•HRES 1708 IH 
Whereas, on May 20, 2009, Assistant Secretary of State for 
Africa Affairs Johnnie Carson testified before the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee that, ‘‘We have clear evi-
dence that Eritrea is supporting these extremist elements 
[inside Somalia], including credible reports that the Gov-
ernment of Eritrea continues to supply weapons and mu-
nitions to extremists and terrorist elements.’’; 
Whereas, on December 23, 2009, largely at the behest of Af-
rican governments, the United Nations Security Council 
in Resolution 1907 (2009) demanded that all Member 
States, in particular Eritrea, cease to arm, train, and 
equip armed groups, including al Shabaab, that aim to 
destabilize the region and subsequently imposed a ban on 
the sale or supply of weapons, training, and related mate-
riel to or from Eritrea; 
Whereas in its March 2010 report, the United Nations Sanc-
tions Monitoring Group on Somalia noted that ‘‘the Gov-
ernment of Eritrea has provided significant and sustained 
political, financial and material support, including arms, 
ammunition and training to armed opposition groups in 
Somalia since at least 2007.’’; 
Whereas the March 2010 report by the United Nations Sanc-
tions Monitoring Group on Somalia further noted that 
the Government of Eritrea has provided Eritrean pass-
ports to senior al Shabaab leaders, including Mukhtar 
Robow, who the United States Department of the Treas-
ury has identified as al Shabaab’s spokesman, spiritual 
leader, and military commander in southern Somalia and 
is subject to United States sanctions; 
Whereas the United Nations Sanctions Monitoring Group on 
Somalia also accuses Eritrea of providing ‘‘direct and 
overt support’’ for the return to Somalia of Hassan 
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•HRES 1708 IH 
Dahir Aweys, who leads the radical Islamist Hizbul Islam 
insurgent group in Somalia and is subject to United 
States sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 13224 and 
United Nations sanctions pursuant to United Nations Se-
curity Council Resolution 1267; 
Whereas, on March 24, 2010, Assistant Secretary of State 
for African Affairs Johnnie Carson testified before the 
House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Af-
rica and Global Health, ‘‘There is no doubt that al 
Shabaab is a terrorist organization. There is no doubt 
that Eritrea has supported the elements of al Shabaab’’; 
Whereas, on April 10, 2010, Yemane Gebreab, Head of Polit-
ical Affairs and Presidential Adviser in the Government 
of Eritrea, was included on a list of persons contributing 
to the conflict in Somalia and subject to United States 
sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 13536; 
Whereas al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the July 
11, 2010, attacks in Kampala, Uganda, which killed 
more than 70 people, including a United States citizen, 
who had gathered to watch the World Cup finals, dem-
onstrating the growing sophistication and reach of al 
Shabbab’s operations; 
Whereas United States law enforcement and counter ter-
rorism officials have been increasingly concerned by re-
ports of Somali-American youths disappearing from 
United States locales to train with al Shabaab in Soma-
lia, and the head of Great Britain’s domestic intelligence 
service warned recently that it is ‘‘only a matter of time 
before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those 
who are today fighting alongside al-Shabaab’’; and 
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•HRES 1708 IH 
Whereas section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 
1979, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and 
section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 stip-
ulate that a designated state sponsor of terrorism is one 
‘‘that repeatedly provides support to acts of international 
terrorism’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) given the growing security threat from al 
Shabaab, a United States-designated foreign ter-
rorist organization, every effort should be made to 
tackle its outside sources of support; 
(2) Eritrea’s ongoing and well-documented sup-
port for armed insurgents in Somalia, including al 
Shabaab, poses a significant threat to the national 
security interests of the United States and East Af-
rican nations; and 
(3) the Secretary of State should designate the 
State of Eritrea as a state sponsor of terrorism pur-
suant to section 6(j) of the Export Administration 
Act of 1979, section 40 of the Arms Export Control 
Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961. 
Æ 
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