Upon assuming office, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his Cabinet in the new Federal Government of Somalia resumed efforts by Somali and international stakeholders to end the 21-year UN arms embargo on Somalia,[1] which was at the time the oldest such global weapons blockade.[2] The Security Council had imposed the prohibition in 1992, shortly after the start of the civil war and the toppling of the Siad Barre regime, in order to stop the flow of weapons to feuding militia groups.[1] An eventual repeal of the embargo had been among the future objectives of the signatories in the transitional Roadmap political process of 2011-2012.[3] Mohamud's government, Somali security analysts and military experts argued that lifting the ban on the procurement of arms would facilitate the Somali authorities' attempts at strengthening the Somali Armed Forces, and would more effectively equip the military to quash the remnants of the Islamist insurgency.[4] The United States,[1] African Union,[4] Arab League,[5] and IGAD all backed the proposal.[6] In March 2013, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon likewise urged Security Council members to vote to remove the sanctions so as to help the Somali authorities fortify their security apparatus and consolidate military gains.[7]