UN Security Council considers embargo on S.Leone diamonds

UN Security Council considers embargo on S.Leone diamonds
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

UNITED NATIONS, JUNE 29: The UN Security Council debated a British proposal to ban trade in diamonds mined from rebel-held areas of Sierra Leone. Diamonds are the major source of revenue for the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, who in May took 500 UN peacekeepers hostage.

The proposed resolution says that "all states shall take the necessary measures to prohibit the direct or indirect import of all rough diamonds from Sierra Leone to their territory." The proposal would exempt diamonds if their origin is certified by the government in Freetown and calls on the diamond industry to cooperate with the ban.

Sierra Leone's main diamond-producing areas are in regions under RUF control, along the border with Liberia. The Security Council also expressed its concern about reports that diamonds from RUF-held areas were reaching the market by passing through Liberia.

"There is growing evidence that diamonds are leaving Sierra Leone illegally via Liberia, and that arms are coming in to the RUF and perhaps others, illegally from Liberia," British Ambassador to the United Nations Jeremy Greenstock said in early June.

The proposal was expected to be approved on Friday, but was hung up late Thursday over a French amendment to make the ban last 18 months and to review it for renewal then. Diplomats here said the United States opposed the amendment, which a majority of the council supports.