Thursday, November 30, 2000

South Africa to Ask for International Gem Certification South Africa plans to ask
all nations on Friday to back an international certification
system for gems, saying it is concerned not only that
diamonds are fueling civil wars among other Africans but also that
adverse publicity and calls for boycotts will hurt its own
diamond-mining industry.

Ambassador Dumisana Kumalo of South Africa, who will introduce a resolution in the 189-member General
Assembly, said in an interview today that piecemeal attempts to control diamond exports, which finance
rebel organizations like the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone and Unita in Angola, are not enough.

In two weeks, publication is expected of an expert panel's report to the Security Council on the illegal trade
in what are called "conflict diamonds."

"One thing that they will show in their report is that the same characters who are involved in trading in
Angola are the ones who pop up in the Congo, the ones in Sierra Leone," Mr. Kumalo said. "So there is a
very small network wherever these conflict diamonds are." He said that without concerted action worldwide,
there can be no hope of stopping the trade.

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