Culled from the Independent Newspaper of 26-28 December,2000 UN ACCUSES GAMBIA OF EXPORTING "BLOOD" DIAMONDS Calls for first-ever international embargo against Jammeh regime The Gambia has been accused by the United Nations of exporting "blood" diamonds to the international market dealing in the commodity. The UN has since called for sanctions against The Gambia and Liberia the two countries mentioned in a damning UN report on the role of diamonds in funding worsening conflicts in the sub-region and elsewhere in Africa. The report catalogues a host of African countries including The Gambia as facilitators of the trade inb diamonds from conflict zones like Sierra Leone whose diamond has been banned (except those fromthe Sierra Leone government). The report prepared by a five-man panel was taken to the United Nations Security Counciul where diplomats had begun drawing upmeasures against The Gambia andLiberia. The expert panel established by the Security Coucil to investigate the link between the illicit diamond sales and arms traficking called for an "immediate embargo on trade in diamonds from the Gambia". The report indicates that "although the Gambia has no diamond mines and no reputation as a diamond-dealing nation, it has become a significant exporter,with most of the gems believed to be obtainable in Sierra Leone". If the embargo against The Gambia is enforced it will be the first internatiuonal move against the six-year old government. Meanwhile, according to the GRTS the Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs Famara Jatta and the Secretary of State for Trade, Industry and Employment Musa Sillah have denied the link between The Gambia and the export of diamonds. The GRTS quoted them,as saying that the country's export review does not recveal any export of diamonds. The state officials reportedly told GRTS that statistics in the UN report may have come from countries where diamonds are sold. "It would therefore be unfair for the United Nations to impose any form of embargo on The Gambia" one of them was quoted as emphasising. Although no report has been made yet concerning arrests of individuals connected with trafficking of diamonds across the Gambian border, there has been international suspicion that The Gambia was candestinely involved in the export of what has now been condemned as "blood" diamonds,the source of which was undisclosed at the time. Meanwhile, bolstered by the scathing UN report,the United States and Britain are said to be considering sanctions on Liberia's diamond exports and aircraft because of what CNN and Reuters News Agency say is its "gems-for-guns" trade with RUF rebels in Sierra Leone. The report also blames Burkina Faso for "playing a major role in smuggling banned arms to the RUF" and suggested that the UN investigate the country's last five years of weapons traffic. It also recommends that the tradingactivities of several African nations bemonitored. Ghana, Mali and Namibia are among six African countries making up the UN "watch list" of suspect-countries. END _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------