The new myth of a rising Africa

AFRICA’S image and that of her people has often been the subject of heated debate in media circles. More often, the narrative that has shaped the image of this vast and populous continent is by others for Africans.

For long, the continent has been viewed by foreigners as a photo-opportunity to illustrate victimhood and desperation. Images of emaciated children, with pot-bellies, fending off flies from their faces and women with flat breasts due to hunger are all meant to depict the degree of helplessness that characterises the lives of the people of this continent.

The African continent in this old narrative is stark in a vicious cycle of poverty and conflict with no end in sight.

This old narrative viewed as stereotyping Africans has of late come under challenge from proponents of the new narrative who seek to give positive trends and underlying successes by Africans. Evangelists of the new narrative are usually Africans writing their own discourse for their own people.

The new narrative aims to articulate the history, vision, philosophy and aspirations of Africans, who for long, claims to have been inaccurately portrayed in the media on the global stage. By so doing, Africans define themselves as opposed to being defined by others; they shape their story contrary to having it shaped by others; and articulate their agenda to be heard on the international arena.

Proponents of the new narrative have been energised by the story of the “rising” Africa backed by Western institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which projects that growth south of the Sahara is expected to surge to 6,1 % in 2014, well ahead of the global average of 4%. As The Economist’s piece pointed out recently: “Over the past decade, six of the 10 fastest growing countries were African.” The list of some of the so-called fastest growing African economies is headed by Angola, Congo, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania.

How far have Africans been able to articulate their narrative and how loud are their voices? To what extent is the international audience prepared to listen to this new narrative and has it changed Africa’s image? The new narrative can only hold if Africans become self-sufficient and be able to sustain themselves without depending on others for survival. Africa’s dependence on foreign aid has not helped in her quest to articulate this new narrative.

Over the past 60 years, Dambisa Moyo notes, Africa received at least US$1 trillion of development-related aid from developed countries. This figure amounts to roughly US$50 billion of international assistance being received by Africa each year. Ethiopia, which is heralded as one “rising” African state, has more than 90% of her annual budget made up of donor funding. The same also applies to Malawi whose economy is unsustainable without foreign aid yet the two countries are paraded in international media as African success stories.

Most African leaders attend to international conferences not to contribute to discussions carried out at such forums, but to beg for aid which rarely reach its recipients. Given this disturbing scenario, it therefore means the agenda pursued by most African states is dictated by foreigners (donors) since he who pays the piper calls the tune.

Africa’s voice can only be heard and listened to when she is able to stand on her own without need for support from outsiders. Since when have beggars been privileged to become choosers and to influence policy on the international arena? Dependence on foreign aid chokes Africa’s voice, thus robbing her of influence which makes her narrative weak.

The continent’s misery to an extent is self-inflicting although external forces play a part in complicating the situation. Most African governments are corrupt and the practice deprives the continent of the much-needed revenue to uplift its people’s lives.

A study by the African Development Bank (AfBD) and the Global Financial Integrity, reveals that from 1980-2009, Africa has lost US$1,2 trillion to US$1,4 trillion in illicit financial outflows, or dirty money, like corruption, tax evasion, bribes and other criminal challenges.

This figure, as Obadia Ndaba argues, is more than three times the total amount of foreign aid received in the same period. It therefore implies that Africa does not necessarily need foreign aid if she manages her resources properly. The same AfDB report says that South Africa, Africa’s largest economy, has lost US$170 billion in net resources over a period of 30 years in illicit outflows.

Nigeria, Africa’s second largest economy, is reported to have lost over US$400 billion to oil corruption alone since independence in 1960 from another report in 2012. South Africa lost US$103 million in the fiscal year 2011-2012, up from US$38,5 million in 2001-2010, according to The Real State of the Nation report by the government.

Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy recently reported to parliament recently that millions of dollars in royalties paid by diamond firms in eastern Zimbabwe have disappeared.

One firm, Mbada Diamonds, which works with in partnership government, says it has paid US$293 million in taxes over four years, but Treasury is reported to have just received US$80 million in total during the 2011-2012 period, with the remainder unaccounted for.

The chairperson of the parliamentary committee, Edward Chindori-Chininga, mysteriously died in a road accident less than a week after tabling the findings of the committee in what many suspect to be elimination by those involved in the murky world of diamond dealings.

The resource drain from Africa over the past 30 years, Professor Mthuli Ncube, chief economist and vice-president of the AfDB argues, is almost equivalent to Africa’s GDP and is holding back Africa’s lift-off.

This spiral web of corruption sucks the continent’s wealth, leaving her unable to sustain the livelihood of her people, but reduces them to beggars. Once they are reduced to paupers, they are robbed of a voice and influence at home and on the international stage which in turn influences their ability to articulate their issues.
The narrative of a rising Africa might suit a clique of the African elite and Western chief executive officers, but it won’t do anything to improve the lives of ordinary Africans.

The image of an African man with a mobile phone does not in any way reflect a rising Africa at a time the continent grapples with rising unemployment, deplorable living conditions, with the majority of the population living on less than a dollar in a day.

It is a narrative peddled by the African elite and their foreign partners who benefit from the discourse at the expense of ordinary Africans.

Poor governance compound Africa’s plethora of problems. In spite of the continent’s vast economic wealth, the continent is still the poorest on the planet.

The African Progress Panel, headed by former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, reveals that secret mining deals and financial transfers, corruption and weak leadership, have immensely contributed to the impoverishment of the continent. The report gave the example of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is estimated to possess in excess of US$24 trillion under its soil, but is reported to be the poorest country in the world according to the UN Human Development Index.

According to the same report, the DRC lost US$1,4 billion in secret deals as well as from five underpriced ventures involving top government officials in partnership with foreigners.

The report noted that “the figure was equivalent to double DRC’s health and education budgets combined”.

The African Progress Panel’s 2013 African Progress Report at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town recently concluded that Africa is losing more through illicit financial outflows than it receives in aid and foreign direct investment.

Foreigners collude with the African elite to drain the continent’s wealth taking advantage of weak and corrupt regimes through trade mispricing, misrepresentation of export and import values along other illicit outflows costing the continent US$38,4 billion and US$25 billion respectively between 2008 and 2010.

Foreign companies operating in Africa are also involved in this plunder of the continent’s resources. As noted by the report, “activities of these companies are characterised by extensive use of offshore registered and low tax jurisdictions”, and that “these arrangements come with weak public disclosure and extensive opportunities for tax evasion”.

The myth of Africa’s rise, peddled by the African elite and their foreign collaborators, comes from a straightforward interpretation of high growth rates and increased foreign investments in parts of the continent, without taking into consideration the continent’s dependence on the extractive industry as opposed to manufacturing.

In The Myth of Africa’s Rise, Rick Rowden highlights how Africa’s rising evangelists “don’t mention manufacturing, or its disturbing absence, in Africa”.

A recent UN report shows that manufacturing has stagnated across most of Africa and has even regressed in 23 African countries. As Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential argues, “there is a lack of value added on the African side”.

Parselelo Kantai observes “what is happening on the continent is a new era of massive extraction, catalysed mostly by Chinese domestic demands”.

The continuous looting of Africa’s wealth by outsiders in collaboration with the African elite will continue for generations and as long as the trend is not stopped, Africa will remain poor.

Muchayi is a political analyst who can be contacted on wmuchayi@gmail.com

Source: Zimbabwe independent

Mugabe's diamond mine 'war chest'

A Zimbabwean diamond field said to be the largest in the world is being mined by companies staffed by Robert Mugabe's police and military chiefs who may use the proceeds as a "war chest" to crack down on opponents, says an anti-corruption watchdog. A study by Global Witness marks the first comprehensive attempt to pin down ownership of two companies awarded the rights to mine at Marange since concessions were awarded by the mining ministry four years ago.

It reveals that one company has, among its directors, members of Mugabe's security services who have previously been implicated in vote-rigging and political violence in the run-up to elections. The other is part-owned by companies registered in tax havens such as Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands, making its beneficiaries virtually impossible to identify. Tendai Biti, the finance minister and a member of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe's fractious coalition government, has repeatedly complained about the disappearance of diamond revenues, which it was hoped might help to revive the shattered economy.

Global Witness claims that instead, the security forces could be channelling the profits into a "war chest" that could be used to act against dissenting voices in elections expected this year or next. Marange diamond fields made international headlines in 2008 when they were seized by the Zimbabwean military. Last year, Global Witness claimed locals were being forced to work for soldiers, then smuggle the stones over the Mozambican border. After widespread outrage, the fields were divided up among favoured companies. Leading the pack were the Chinese, whose Exim bank provided the Zimbabweans with a $98-million loan to rebuild their defence college in return for a concession.

Anjin, a joint venture between a Chinese and a Zimbabwean company, intends to produce two million carats a month. According to Global Witness, Anjin has on its board a number of people close to Mugabe. Its company secretary is listed as being Charles Tarumbwa, a brigadier on the EU sanctions list for his role in terror campaigns.

The second company, Mbada, is run by Robert Mhlanga, a former air vice-marshal in the Zimbabwean air force. It is linked to a network of companies based in Mauritius, Dubai, the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong. Biti said the results of the study did not surprise him. "I know the money [from the sale of Marange diamonds] is being stolen, but I don't have any proof of how it is being stolen," he said. Neither Anjin nor Mbada could be reached for comment.

Source: Times Live

Charles Taylor's Lawyer Wants Evidence From Mbeki

Charles Taylor's chief lawyer said Thursday he wants former South African President Thabo Mbeki to give evidence at the war-crimes trial of the former Liberian leader.

Courtenay Griffiths, Taylor's chief counsel at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Netherlands, told The Associated Press during a visit to Johannesburg that he wants to interview Mbeki and weapons makers in South Africa. He said he seeks details on Taylor's 2003 resignation and details on arms deals that Taylor may have made. ''It is suggested by the prosecution that Mr. Taylor did not step down voluntarily as president of Liberia -- he was forced out of office by, among others, Thabo Mbeki,'' Griffiths said. ''Mr. Taylor flatly denies that he was put under any pressure to step down.''

Griffiths said Mbeki's evidence may support Taylor's credibility. He said the prosecution suggested that Taylor lied to the court about his resignation and the defense wants to prove that wrong. Griffiths said has he asked Mbeki for a meeting. But Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said the office has not received a request. ''We only learned about his wish to meet Mr. Mbeki in the media yesterday,'' he said.

Griffiths said he would not force Mbeki, who held the presidency from 1999 to 2008, to give evidence. ''I would not subject the former president of South Africa to indignity of being subpoenaed to give evidence in the criminal trial,'' he said. ''As far as I am concerned if at the end of the day Mr. Mbeki decides that he doesn't want to, that's the end of the story.''

He also wants to interview members of a committee that dealt with arms sales about the prosecution's suggestion that Taylor brought ''blood diamonds'' with him on a trip to South Africa in 1997, shortly after his inauguration. The prosecution believes some of the stones were used to broker an arms deal in South Africa. ''I think the then-justice minister who was on the committee has now declared there was not such a deal, which of course assists us as those who defend Mr. Taylor,'' Griffiths said.

Taylor has denied involvement in the diamond trade. In August, supermodel Naomi Campbell told the court Taylor gave her several diamonds during that 1997 visit to South Africa. Taylor said he is innocent of 11 war-crimes charges linked to allegations he supported rebels during Sierra Leone's 11-year civil war, which ended in 2002 with an estimated 100,000 dead.

Source: New York Times

Major gem-trading group bans Zim diamonds

A major gem-trading group on Monday banned the sale of diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange mines, saying the watchdog Kimberley Process could not guarantee they were not "blood diamonds".

The US-based Rapaport Group, one of the world's largest gem-trading networks, said it would expel any traders who knowingly sold diamonds from Marange, despite a decision by the UN-sanctioned Kimberley Process to allow Zimbabwe to proceed with an auction of some of the diamonds last week. "[We] will not tolerate the use of our trading networks for the distribution of diamonds involved in human rights violations," said a statement from chairperson Martin Rapaport. "RapNet, the Rapaport Diamond Trading Network, will not allow the trading of any diamonds sourced from Marange, Zimbabwe. Members found to have knowingly offered Marange diamonds for sale on RapNet will be expelled and their names will be publicly communicated."

The Zimbabwean military seized control of the Marange fields in late 2008, forcing out tens of thousands of small-scale miners and killing about 200, according to human rights groups. Soldiers then beat and raped villagers to force them to mine the gems in early 2009, the groups say.

Kimberley Process monitors last month ruled that abuses at Marange had stopped and allowed cash-starved Zimbabwe to hold an auction for stones mined during the last two months. But Rapaport, an industry firebrand which has sharply criticised the Kimberley Process, said the watchdog group could not guarantee the mining of the stones was free of violence. "There is no assurance that diamonds with [Kimberley Process] certification are free of human rights violations," he said.

Source: Mail & Guardian

'Blood diamonds': Flawed regulator must end half-measures

The Kimberley Process will only survive if governments and industry stand up for the principles on which it was built. The Kimberley Process certification scheme is often credited with ending the trade in conflict diamonds. As the blood spilled in Zimbabwe's diamond fields shows, the truth is more complex.

The KP set out to ensure that the kind of diamond-fuelled conflict and abuse exposed by Global Witness and others in countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia could never happen again. The technical aspects of the scheme are implemented by governments, while NGOs and the diamond industry act as observers. Essentially an import-export control system for rough diamonds, the KP provides a strong economic incentive for countries to join, since members can only trade with each other. To participate, governments must pass national laws and agree to meet the KP's minimum standards to guarantee that their diamond exports are conflict-free.

There have been successes: in some African countries the scheme has brought more transparency and increased official diamond revenues for governments. But recent crises have exposed shortfalls. In Zimbabwe the abuses are by a member government, as opposed to a rebel group. This highlights a fundamental flaw in the process: the KP's reliance on consensus among members has allowed regional allies to veto tough decisions on Zimbabwe, which remains a member despite the state-sponsored murder of hundreds of diamond diggers. The most recent agreement allows Zimbabwe a one-off limited export of diamonds from Marange. All further exports are conditional on Zimbabwe demilitarising diamond mining, cracking down on smuggling and ending human rights abuses in Marange.

The KP's half-measures and compromises in the face of one of the most egregious cases of diamond-related violence in years have battered its credibility and brought it to the brink of collapse. This scheme will only survive if governments and the industry stand up for the principles on which the process was built. Without this, diamonds in countries like Zimbabwe will continue to generate suffering rather than prosperity, and the global diamond industry will remain blighted by the taint of blood diamonds.

Source: The Guardian

Stop Blood Diamonds

Zimbabwe's armed forces, under the control of President Robert Mugabe, are engaging in forced labor of children and adults and are torturing and beating local villagers on the diamond fields of Marange district. The military seized control of these diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe after killing more than 200 people in Chiadzwa, a previously peaceful but impoverished area, in late October 2008. Marange has become a zone of lawlessness and impunity, a microcosm of the chaos and desperation that currently pervade Zimbabwe.

In late June 2009, Human Rights Watch published a report documenting the serious human rights abuses in the Marange diamond fields by the Zimbabwean military, including forced labor, child labor, the killing of more than 200 people, and other grave abuses.

In its recent plenary meeting in Namibia, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, an international body that oversees the trade of diamonds, decided not to suspend Zimbabwe from participation, nor bar the export of its diamonds, despite finding serious human rights abuses and rampant smuggling during its own investigation of the Marange diamond field. Its weak excuse was a technicality in its mandate that defines blood diamonds as those mined by abusive rebel groups, not by abusive governments.

Tell Kimberley Process member states that they need to take action to end the smuggling of blood diamonds and stop the human rights abuses at the Marange diamond fields.

This is the message to:
Brad Brooks-Rubin - Conflict Diamonds Advisor, US State Dept
Stephane Chardon - European Community KPCS Representative
Bernard Esau - Namibia, Chair KPCS
Boaz Hirsch - Israel, Incoming Chair KPCS
Eli Izakhoff - World Diamond Council
Igor Kozlyuk - Russia KPCS Representative
Suresh Kumar - India KPCS Representative
Weizhang Liang - China KPCS Representative
Sabrina Ramzi - Canada KPCS Representative
Susan Shabangu - South Africa, Minister of Minerals and Energy

Source: Human Rights Watch

Kimberley Process: Suspend Zimbabwe

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, scheduled to meet in Swakopmund, Namibia, from November 2 to 5, 2009, should immediately suspend Zimbabwe for continuing human rights abuses and widespread smuggling in the Marange diamond fields, Human Rights Watch said today. The government of Zimbabwe has not complied with any of the recommendations put forward in July by a review mission of the group, an international body that governs the global diamond industry.

Human Rights Watch researchers carried out follow-up investigations from October 12 to 23, establishing that elements of the Zimbabwean Defence Forces have consolidated their presence in the diamond fields and that they are abusing members of the local community and engaging in widespread diamond smuggling. On June 26, Human Rights Watch published "Diamonds in the Rough," a detailed report on human rights violations associated with illicit diamond mining at Marange.

"Zimbabwe has had more than enough time to put a halt to the human rights abuses and smuggling at Marange," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, it has sent more troops to the area, apparently trying to put a halt to independent access and scrutiny."

In their latest investigation in Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch researchers were able to interview 23 people directly linked to the Marange diamond fields and to confirm the following abuses, which put Zimbabwe in violation of the minimum standards required for membership in the Kimberley Process:

* The Zimbabwean army uses syndicates of local miners to extract diamonds, often using forced labor, including children.
* On September 17, a soldier shot and killed a 19-year-old member of one syndicate. The soldier stated, in the presence of witnesses, that he had shot the man for hiding a raw diamond instead of handing it over to the soldier.
* Local miners provided information that soldiers have begun to recruit people from outside Marange to join army-run diamond mining syndicates.
* Smuggling of Marange diamonds has intensified. Scores of buyers and middlemen openly trade in Marange diamonds in the small Mozambique town of Vila de Manica, 20 miles from Mutare.

The ownership of the Marange diamond fields is in dispute. The mines minister, the police commissioner, and the government-owned company, Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), have all failed to comply with a High Court order issued by Judge Charles Hungwe on September 28, to restore prospecting and diamond mining rights in the diamond fields to the previous owner, African Consolidated Resources (Private) Limited (ACR).

Source: Human Rights Watch

HRW: Zim army guilty of diamond field abuses

Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Zimbabwe's armed forces, under the control of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, of torture and forced labour in the eastern Marange diamond fields.

A new 62-page report documents the killing of more than 200 people by the army in a takeover of the eastern fields last year, saying it believes the illegal diamond trade is a likely revenue source for senior Zanu-PF officials.

"The police and army have turned this peaceful area into a nightmare of lawlessness and horrific violence," said Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa director in a statement.

"Some income from the fields has been funnelled to high-level party members of Zanu-PF, which is now part of a power-sharing government that urgently needs revenue as the country faces a dire economic crisis," the rights group said.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Zimbabwe’s Diamond Fields Enrich Ruling Party

JOHANNESBURG — Zimbabwe’s military, controlled by President Robert Mugabe’s political party, violently took over diamond fields in Zimbabwe last year and has used the illicit revenues to buy the loyalty of restive soldiers and enrich party leaders, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released Friday.

The party, ZANU-PF, has used the money from diamonds — smuggled out of the country or illegally sold through the Reserve Bank — to reinforce its hold over the security forces, which seemed to be slipping last year as the value of soldiers’ pay collapsed with soaring inflation, Human Rights Watch researchers said.

Source: New York Times

Fight against blood diamonds under review in Namibia

Diamond-producing nations open a meeting on Tuesday to review global efforts to prevent trade in the gems from fuelling conflicts, with an eye on alleged abuses in Zimbabwe and Venezuela's recent suspension.

An international scheme known as the Kimberley Process, named after the South African mining town, was launched in 2003 with the aim of curbing the flow of "blood diamonds" into the mainstream market.

Namibia, which currently heads the process, is hosting the three-day meeting to deliberate on efforts to further curb the illegal diamond trade blamed for financing wars in developing countries.

"The clock is running out on Kimberley Process credibility," said Annie Dunnebacke of the London-based Global Witness, which monitors the exploitation of natural resources.

Global Witness has pointed to worries over smuggling, money laundering and human rights abuses in the world's alluvial diamond fields.

Source: Mail & Guardian

'Blood diamonds' team starts Zim probe

An international group is in Zimbabwe to investigate allegations of mass murder by government soldiers in a diamond field in the east of the country, state media reported on Wednesday.

The mission from the Kimberley Process (KP), the United Nations-founded body to monitor the trade in so-called "blood diamonds" arrived on a fact-finding mission on Monday and were due on Tuesday to visit the notorious Chiadzwa diamond field about 80km south of the eastern city of Mutare, the government-controlled daily Herald said.

The Restriction of Political Space in the Democratic Republic of Congo

This 96-page report documents the Kabila government's use of violence and intimidation to eliminate political opponents. Human Rights Watch found that Kabila himself set the tone and direction by giving orders to "crush" or "neutralize" the "enemies of democracy," implying it was acceptable to use unlawful force against them.

Source: Human Rights Watch

U.N. War Crimes Court to Try 20 Suspects in Sierra Leone

Secretary General Kofi Annan authorized a war crimes tribunal today to be set up in Sierra Leone despite a big shortfall in financial pledges from the member nations of the United Nations. Mr. Annan said a United Nations planning mission would go to Sierra Leone on Monday to start the process of arranging headquarters for the special court, hiring local staff members and beginning investigations.

The tribunal's task would be to prosecute about 20 people accused of being ringleaders of the West African nation's decade-long civil war, which appears to be winding down. In 2000, the Security Council voted to set up the tribunal to try people charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious violations of international law.

Sierra Leone's representative at the United Nations, Allieu Ibrahim Kanu, said the court could be ready to begin trying cases in about a year. The war pitted government forces and militias against rebels of the Revolutionary United Front who seized control of the country's diamond-mining areas and became notorious for hacking off the limbs of women and children, and for enlisting thousands of child soldiers in their cause. The rebels fueled the fighting by selling diamonds they mined for arms. But after a disarmament agreement was reached in May, the United Nations deployed its biggest peacekeeping operation across the country and collected the weapons of more than 40,000 fighters.

The United Nations mission would remain in the country through Jan. 18 and culminate in the signing of an agreement between the United Nations and Sierra Leone establishing a legal framework for the tribunal's operations, Mr. Annan said in a letter to the Security Council. While United Nations members have donated nearly enough money to finance the first year of the tribunal's operations, pledges for its second and third years have fallen well short of the amounts required, Mr. Annan reported. So the United Nations may have to request extra payments from members to make up any shortfalls, he said. The world body has already slashed the court's budget to $57 million from an original estimate of $114 million for three years because of problems raising the funds.

Source: New York Times

U.N. Confirms Liberia's Role In Smuggling Of Diamonds

A panel of international experts is expected to tell the Security Council in a report on Wednesday that Liberia and its president, Charles Taylor, have been playing the largest role in the smuggling of diamonds from Sierra Leone. The diamond sales have paid for a guerrilla war there.

The report, circulated today among diplomats, seems to confirm what other reports have said about Mr. Taylor's role. It recommends that the Council embargo all diamonds from Liberia until it can prove that it is not trafficking in gems from Sierra Leone or arming the insurgents there with the proceeds of illegal sales. The report further suggests that a travel ban similar to one imposed on senior Liberian officials by the United States should be applied by all nations. "President Charles Taylor is actively involved in fueling the violence in Sierra Leone, and many businessmen close to his inner circle operate on an international scale, sourcing their weaponry mainly in eastern Europe," the report said. Mr. Taylor has been the major supporter of the Revolutionary United Front, a rebel army in Sierra Leone that is known for amputating limbs to terrorize civilians.

The panel said there is "unequivocal and overwhelming evidence that Liberia has been actively supporting the R.U.F. at all levels, in providing training, weapons and related materiel, logistical support, a staging ground for attacks and a safe haven for retreat and recuperation, and for public relations activities."

In addition to Liberia, Burkino Faso was cited as being actively involved in the illegal diamonds-for-arms trade. Seven other countries were recommended for a watch list: Uganda, the Central African Republic, Ghana, Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Mali and Zambia. "Invoices from these countries need to be thoroughly checked," the report says.

Sierra Leone now has a diamond certification system approved by the United Nations, and the panel said it works for diamonds that "enter the formal system." But not all diamonds come from government-controlled areas and not all traders can be assumed to be dealing with legitimate stones, the panel found. The panel also found that several Liberian-registered planes that seemed to be outside the formal control of the Liberian government are being used by arms dealers. It recommended that planes bearing Liberian registration be grounded wherever they are found unless they can provide correct documentation and meet other requirements.

Arms dealers from Africa and the Middle East are using Liberian registration to ship illicit goods, the report says. Among dealers the panel cited are Sanjivan Ruprah of Kenya and Victor Bout, who is said to operate from Sharja in the United Arab Emirates. Another businessman described as close to Mr. Taylor is Talal el-Ndine, whom the panel describes as a wealthy Lebanese who acts as paymaster for the Revolutionary United Front.

The panel also looked at efforts by Foday Sankoh, the rebel group's leader, to get into the diamond business when he became part of the Sierra Leone government in 1999 after a peace agreement. Mr. Sankoh is now in jail after turning against the government and after his forces attacked United Nations peacekeepers last May. But he was chairman of the commission for the management of strategic mineral resources in a short-lived power-sharing agreement that was intended to rehabilitate the rebels.

In that capacity, he and Sierra Leone's president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, persuaded the United States to help pay for a conference in March of this year to which American diamond-mining investors were invited. Among those sending a representative was Lazare Kaplan International, whose chairman is Maurice Tempelsman, who had been involved in diamond mining in Sierra Leone decades ago but who had pulled out as the country sank into chaos. Officials at Lazare Kaplan International say they attended the meeting at the urging of the United States Agency for International Development, but came away seeing no future in returning to Sierra Leone. Shortly afterward, Mr. Sankoh was again in armed opposition and the plan to redevelop a legitimate diamond mining industry was scuttled.

The panel that wrote the study was led by Martin Chungong Ayafor of Cameroon. The members were Atabou Bodian of Senegal, an expert from the International Civil Aviation Organization; Johan Peleman, a Belgian arms and transportation expert; Harjit S. Sandhu an Indian agent from Interpol, and Ian Smillie, a diamond expert from Canada.

Source: New York Times