'Diamonds For Arms'
- Liberia stokes African gem war
Charles Taylor, president of Liberia, is stoking the civil war in
neighbouring Sierra Leone because he benefits from its illicit diamond trade,
western intelligence officials say.
Mr Taylor is the power behind the rebel Revolutionary United Front which
controls most of Sierra Leone's diamond producing areas and has used the
proceeds from gem sales to buy arms, according to assessments in London and
Washington.
FT, July
10, 2000
- The deadly scramble for diamonds in Africa
Trade in "conflict diamonds" has flourished because the tiny gems are
portable, easily concealed and a guaranteed source of cash. But it is also a
post-cold war phenomenon in which arms traffickers, corrupt governments and
local warlords thrive in the vacuum left by the absence of superpower
rivalry.
They are part of a global network extending from the desert air strips of
the United Arab Emirates to the armaments factories of Bulgaria and Ukraine;
from the presidential palaces of Liberia, Burkina Faso and Togo to the
offices of diamond dealers in Antwerp, Bombay, Monrovia, Johannesburg and
Tel Aviv.
FT, July
10, 2000
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Charles Taylor
Accusations and Allegations |