The head of the un Security Council sanctions committee has praised the Liberian government for its efforts to regulate diamond and timber trades in line with a ban imposed on them by the world body. This could lead to the lifting of the ban.
A news website, however, reported that mineral resources in the Gbarpolu county were being exploited relentlessly by American Mining Associates despite protests by local people and the sanctions, which were imposed on Liberian diamonds and timber in 2001 and 2003 respectively. The ban was imposed because of widespread suspicions that the return from these trades were funding arms for rebels to fuel the civil war.
Signing up the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme an international diamond tracking system is one of the preconditions for lifting the sanction on diamond mining.
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