SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN News Briefs
ANGOLA: Curb on diamond sales will not stop war
Moves to curb the sale of illicit diamonds will do little to end the Angolan
civil war, the authors of a new publication, titled 'Angola's War Economy'
said in Pretoria on Thursday. Restoring peace in Angola would require much
more than international regulations against the trade of gems for guns.
"Diamonds are the most difficult commodity to control," co-author Jakkie
Cilliers, executive director of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security
Studies said at the launch. "It (the proposed regulations) is in a certain
sense a cop-out by the international community."
Co-author, Christian Dietrich said: "They overlook fundamental realities in
Africa where porous borders prevent oversight and corruption is endemic ...
Increased regulations in Europe and the US merely move the trade in conflict
diamonds to less visible outlets in Africa at little expense to criminal
syndicates." The authors argued that there was a strong historical link
between the protracted Angolan war and the country's oil and diamond wealth.
Cilliers said with rising oil prices international leverage on the Angolan
government was diminishing and its ability to prosecute the war increasing.
The only way to end to the conflict, he said, would be to "choke arms
supplies" to the belligerents, with the support of oil companies active in
that country. "Unless a global effort is undertaken to identify and stop the
key arms traffickers, suppliers and shipping agents, the criminalisation of
war economy ... will prolong the war in Angola," Cilliers said.
ANGOLA: Angolan rebels 1999 diamond output at US $300 million
The ISS publication alleged that Angola's UNITA rebels last year mined
alluvial diamonds worth around US $300 million and have perfected ways to
evade UN sanctions. "Without diamonds, UNITA will not be able to prosecute
its war at the level it does. Of all the commodities in the world, diamonds
are the most difficult to control," said Cilliers.
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