2008

Sierra Leone Diamonds Linked To Hezbollah Terrorist Group

March 2008

The United States Embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone, claims that for the past five years, diamonds that were first mined in Sierra Leone have been sold to terrorist group Hezbollah.

The embassy estimated the sales at $70 to $100 million. It said the diamonds are "smuggled out of the country" and then used by the terrorist groups to buy weapons.

However, exactly three days before the publication of the report, Sierra Leone's Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana told the Third International Rough Diamond Conference in Israel that diamonds exported out of Sierra Leone are now conflict-free, since his country’s civil war had ended.

"We are taking steps to restore growth in our country. We adhere closely to the Kimberley Process. All the diamonds we export are conflict-free," he stressed.