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Angola welcomes U.N.-led progress on staunching flow of blooddiamonds |
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September 23, 2000
LUANDA, SEPT 22 (AP) - Angola's rebel UNITA group has lost at least 20 percent of its income due to international efforts to stem the illegal flow of diamonds, according to the government. Geology and Mines Minister Manuel Africano said late Thursday experts estimated Jonas Savimbi's UNITA, which has funded its two-decade war against the government with the so-called "blood diamonds," may have lost from 20-30 percent of revenue. "These results are encouraging," Africano said. He did not identify the experts, nor did he say how much UNITA was believed to earn. Africano spoke after meeting with Paul Heinbecker, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations. The United Nations has banned the purchase of diamonds from rebels in Angola. Heinbecker is chairman of the committee monitoring the Angola embargo. "According to our assessment, progress is being made," Heinbecker said, though he noted the world body was likely unable to completely cut off the illegal trade. The United Nations seeks to tighten sanctions after a U.N. report earlier this year said the ban was weakly enforced and was only fully imposed after the rebels had already earned nearly dlrs 4 billion from gem sales. The government and UNITA, a Portuguese acronym for the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, began fighting after Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
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