Diamond meeting opens in London

Leading diamond importers began meeting in London on Wednesday to discuss measures to stop the trade in ‘conflict diamonds’ in Africa. British Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain told delegates the meeting was the first opportunity for representatives of both governments and the diamond industry in the key importing countries of rough diamonds “to sit down together to work constructively on ideas to stamp out the illicit trade in blood diamonds”. Hain said it was important to deny rebel groups like the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone, UNITA in Angola and others in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the means to wage war. He outlined the difficulties facing the delegates including cross-border smuggling and the willingness of some states to act as “flags of convenience” for conflict goods but, he added, notwithstanding these problems, “we are here to explore what more we can do.” Belgium’s High Diamond Council said on Wednesday it had agreed with Angola to tighten controls on trade in illegal diamonds and was close to a similar deal with Sierra Leone, Reuters reported.