The US House of Representatives began hearing testimony on Monday on a bill that, if passed into law, would block the import of conflict diamonds into the country, the US Department of State said on Wednesday. The law would enable the implementation of a certificate of origin for the diamonds and allow for the creation of a permanent representative in the government to deal with conflict diamonds.
Congressman Frank Wolf, Republican of Virginia, said in testimony that countries such as Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo and Liberia have exported "millions of carats" of Sierra Leone diamonds. Liberia, which also produces diamonds, has consistently denied dealing in Sierra Leone's stones. The diamonds, valued in the billions of dollars, are usually sold to diamond-cutting centres in Antwerp (Belgium), Israel, India and New York.
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