UN announces inquiry into arms/diamond link

The Chairman of the UN Security Council Sanctions committee on Sierra Leone has announced the composition of a panel to look into possible violations of sanctions and the link between the trade in diamonds and arms, the UN reported on Tuesday. The announcement followed the first public hearings by the Committee on the link between diamonds and the conflict in Sierra Leone. Participants included interested governments such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and Burkina Faso, the diamond industry, regional and international organisations, and individual experts, according to the Chairman of the Security Council’s Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury. The five-member panel, expected to report back to the Sanctions Committee by the end of October, will be chaired by Martin Chungong Ayafor of Cameroon, the UN said. The four other members include diamond expert Ian Smillie of Canada; an expert on arms and transportation, Johan Peleman of Belgium; Interpol expert Harjit Singh Sandhu of India and an expert from the International Civil Aviation Organisation, Atabou Bodian of Senegal. The UN Secretary-General will notify the Security Council of the panel’s composition shortly, the UN said.