By Katrina Manson in Nairobi

The UN is pushing Middle Eastern countries to crack down on a multimillion dollar charcoal trade that funds al-Qaeda-linked jihadis in Somalia in violation of international sanctions.

Charcoal is the economic lifeline of the al-Shabaab Islamist militants, who control much of southern Somalia and regularly conduct terror attacks in Mogadishu, the capital.

The UN Security Council’s committee on sanctions in Somalia meets on Friday to consider the case of two vessels docked in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which UN officials say are “test cases” of whether Middle East countries will enforce international sanctions.

UN officials have previously accused businessmen based in Gulf countries of illegally importing Somali charcoal, but this is the first time they have given prior warning to a government that a shipload of contraband charcoal was heading its way, putting pressure on it to implement the sanctions regime.

The UN estimates that al-Shabaab pocketed more than $25m from charcoal in 2011, fueling its operations and undermining efforts to promote stability in a fragile country suffering from terrorism, piracy and more than 20 years of clan warfare.

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