Osman Ali Atto - Atto's Financing of Warfare

Atto's Financing of Warfare

In a letter from the Chairman of the Security Council Committee (established pursuant to Resolution 751 in 1992) to the President of the Security Council (dated 25 March 2003) Osman Ali Atto is described as an individual who exemplifies "the interaction between looting and the exploitation of Somalia's ressources and infrastructure and the financing of warfare". According to this document Atto used the income from airports, check-points, drug-dealing, arms-smuggle, asset stripping and kidnapping to purchase arms and finance his militias.