How Blood Diamond May Hurt Sierra Leone - Dec.2006

Sierra Leone officials say they are worried the "Blood Diamond" movie, about the war in Sierra Leone in 1999, will actually hurt the country as it rebuilds its diamond industry.

"I am worried the film may be detrimental to the industry in Sierra Leone," said Mohamed Swaray Deen, minister of mineral resources, told the Reuters news service. "Diamonds have the potential to transform Sierra Leone, which has the world's highest rate of child mortality."

"We asked them to say at the end of the film that the country is now peaceful, the war has ended, and there are no more blood diamonds," complained another government official to the Christian Science Monitor. "But Hollywood did not listen."

Other officials expressed disappointment that producers of film didn’t actually film it in Sierra Leone.

"We have a unique landscape, and the presence of a large film crew would have provided economic benefits," said the head of the country’s tourism board."

They worry that the film will make it harder to attract tourists to the country. v