Congressmen call for UN sanctions on diamonds

Two members of the US House of Representatives have called for the UN to back up its peacekeeping efforts with an embargo on black market diamonds from Sierra Leone, according to US Newswire. Tony Hall and Frank Wolf, after returning from a trip to Sierra Leone, said that any diamond not certified by the Commission for the Management of Strategic Resources, National Reconstruction and Development, chaired by Revolutionary United Front leader, Foday Sankoh, should be sanctioned under international law. "Rebels responsible for the war's atrocities have signed the peace agreement but some factions continue to mine and sell diamonds and the unspeakable violence that depends on those revenues is also continuing," Hall said. Most black market diamonds go from Sierra Leone through Liberia to diamond-cutting centres in Belgium and elsewhere. "Any solution that leaves the black market strong is a recipe for bloodshed in the ranks of civilians, soldiers and peacekeepers too," Hall added.