Security Council lifts Liberia diamond ban

UNITED NATIONS, April 28 (UPI) -- A six-year-old U.N.-imposed ban on the sale of diamonds from the West African country of Liberia has been lifted by the U.N. Security Council.

By a unanimous vote, the 15 members of the council decided to allow the resumption of diamond sales on the condition the country signs on to the Kimberley Process, an international diamond certification system that tracks the origin of diamonds on the international market, a BBC correspondent in New York reported.

British Ambassador to the United Nations Emyr Jones said the lifting of the ban also carried a 90-day review contingency.

The vote was seen as a vote of confidence in Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who was elected in January 2006, the report said. Her leadership is seen by the United Nations as combating rebel groups who used the diamond trade's profits to fund insurgencies, giving the name "blood diamonds" to the export and sale of the gems.