MICHEL LECLERCQ, United Nations | Thursday
A UN panel on Wednesday recommended a total embargo on diamonds coming from Liberia, accusing Monrovia of complicity in the diamond and arms trafficking that is sustaining the conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
The report by the five-member panel of experts appointed by UN chief Kofi Annan, concluded that Liberian President Charles Taylor “is actively involved in fuelling the violence in Sierra Leone” by illegally selling Sierra Leone diamonds and using the profits to buy weapons for the rebels.
The panel, whose findings were released to the media, “found unequivocal and overwhelming evidence that Liberia has been actively supporting the RUF at all levels,” referring to the rebel Revolutionary United Front led by Foday Sankoh, who is in government custody.
The panel recommended that an embargo on Liberian diamonds be maintained “until Liberia demonstrates convincingly that it is no longer involved in the trafficking of arms to, or diamonds from, Sierra Leone”.
Britain’s UN ambassador, Jeremy Greenstock, said the Security Council was interested in Monrovia’s role in the conflict between rebel forces and the democratically elected but ignored government of Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.
Diplomatic sources revealed that Ukraine, one of the council’s 10 non-permanent members, was named in the report as one of the countries supplying arms to the West African nation.
“If there are countries that are resisting the control of illegitimate activity then I think the Council will want to take action,” Greenstock said.
The panel also recommended that the Security Council consider an embargo on overseas missions by Liberian authorities and diplomats until they cease their support of Sierra Leone’s rebellion.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on August 2 appointed the panel members to shine some light on the relationship between diamonds and arms in Sierra Leone.
The “blood diamonds … represent a major and primary source of income for the RUF, and is more than enough to sustain its military activities,” the panel said, estimating that diamond sales generate between $25m and $125m in revenue for the rebels per year. – AFP