Double Wamco

Six months before elections, ministers have signed a deal on a trade in banned diamonds

A secret deal signed in February by government ministers in Monrovia would give a mysterious mining company a ten-year monopoly on Liberia's diamond production, according to contract documents obtained by Africa Confidential. The involvement of the Liberian ministers, who face elections in October, was made public by last month's report by a special investigation panel to the United Nations Security Council. The UN banned diamond trading in Liberia, once a main source of income for the region's warlords, in 2001.

Article Tags:
Jonathan Mason, Lucinee Kamara, Kabineh Ja'neh, Roosevelt Quaiah, Charles, Gyude Bryant, French, Michael Saint-Yrian, Equatorial Guinea, Charles Taylor, Diamond deals, Italian, Belgium, Sierra Leone, Eric Chamchoum, Nigerian, United States, Paul Majmader, Stéphane, Stephen, Michele Anti, Kalman Sporn, Africa Confidential, Gruppo Telecom Italia, Compagnia Sviluppo Imprese Sociali

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