FACING a threat of sanctions, Liberian President Charles Taylor has told the UN he will resign if it can prove that he profited from sales of blood diamonds by rebels in Sierra Leone. In a letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan, Taylor asked the UN to set up “a blue ribbon panel” to investigate allegations that he was involved in diamond smuggling by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Liberias Foreign Minister said he would make a formal proposal to the Security Council that the United Nations supervise a new certification scheme to monitor Liberia’s diamond trade. – AFP