X-Man

In the 1990s, a number of African nations were wracked by bloody civil war. The diamond trade came to be a part of this continental plague when the stones were used to fund the conflict that occurred in the various nations. The conflict was not spread throughout the entire African continent, but due to the great value and easy mobility of diamond stones, the funding of the bloody conflict was spread throughout Africa and the world. The nation of Liberia was one of these nations which were torn apart by civil conflict. Much of this conflict was funded by the illegal trade of diamond stones mined within Liberian mines.

The nation of Liberia declared some good news over this summer, however. Having deposed the former president, Charles Taylor in 2003, Liberia has since been recovering from ongoing civil conflict that lasted from 1989 to 2003. Due to the fact that the conflict was greatly fueled by diamond stones, the nation was banned by the UN from the trade and mining of diamond stones. Charles Taylor had utilized the money from Liberia's trade in diamond stones to fuel not just the conflict within Liberia, but to aid in the conflict that was occurring in the nation of Sierra Leone.

The Liberian nation had little choice but to comply with the UN ban on the sale, export or mining of diamond stones in 2001. By complying with the UN demands, Charles Taylor hoped to be left alone to continue the conflict within his own nation. However, by 2003, the people of Liberia had had enough of civil conflict, and served to foster an environment and atmosphere in which the ouster of then-president Charles Taylor was able to be brought about.

With the ouster of Charles Taylor, Liberia was able to begin its recovery from internal and external conflict. In January of 2006, Africa's first woman leader, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, was elected President of Liberia. She has since her election successfully applied for inclusion in the Kimberley Process, a 71 nation conglomeration which serves to watch and track the trade in diamond stones. The goal is to eliminate any trade in diamond stones which in some way serve to aid in conflict anywhere in Africa.

As a part of Liberia's attempt to enter back into the world trade of diamond stones, and to prove that their diamond stones are conflict free, in May of 2007, Liberia opened up ten screening offices that serve to evaluate whether or not diamond stones come from, or in some way serve, conflict on the continent of Africa. This is just a beginning in the restarting of the trade in diamond stones that was halted in 2001 due to its connection to civil conflict. However, while the opening of the screening and evaluation offices for diamond stones will not save the conflict damaged nation in and of itself, it is a beginning.

The re-opening of the trade in diamond stones in Liberia is a great sign of hope for the future of a nation that suffered so much from conflict for over ten years. The UN is currently holding former president Charles Taylor in custody at the Hague in Belgium, as he awaits a UN World Court trial for war crimes. Although neither the primary instigator of the conflict that wracked Liberia, nor the only one to benefit from the illegal trade of diamond stones during the conflict that nearly took his nation off of the map, the fact that Mr. Taylor now stands trial, along with the restarting of the trade in conflict free diamond stones, is another piece of the whole that is aiding Liberia's healing and recovery from the years of civil conflict.