Bloody diamonds - Updates - precious stones finance revolutionary wars in Africa - Brief Article

E: The Environmental Magazine, March-April, 2002 by Laura M. Hrastar

Would you buy glittering diamonds if you knew he profits from them fueled terror wars in Sierra Leone, Angola or the Congo? (see "Diamonds Aren't Forever," Consumer News, September/October 2001).

Diamond shops like Tiffany's, Cartier and Harry Winston claim they don't buy "conflict diamonds." However, few regulations govern the industry, and an NBC undercover team had no trouble peddling diamonds from Sierra Leone to wholesalers in Manhattan's 47th Street jewelry district. Last year, Congressman Tony Hall (D-OH)introduced the Clean Diamonds Act, which would require sellers to make the gems' point of origin known to the buyer.

Last November, through Botswana-based negotiations known as the Kimberly Process, the international community agreed to certify diamonds for legitimate trading using a "passport" system. The United Nations General Assembly is expected to endorse the plan soon. CONTACT: Global Witness, ( 44)(0)20-7272-6731, www.oneworld. org/globalwitness.