Action call: Hain

Peter Hain has called for concerted action to prevent diamonds being used by warlords to fund conflicts in some of Africa's poorest countries.

The Foreign Office minister made the opening address at the Kimberley Process conference which began on Tuesday and is aimed at preventing the trade in "conflict diamonds" fuelling wars in Africa.

The Kimberley Process, which takes its name from the largest and oldest diamond producing mine in Africa, began in the first of half of 2000 when southern African producer states began an informal series of meetings with the industry and campaign groups. Following a further meeting in October 200 the UN backed the process with a resolution calling for the establishment of an international certification scheme for rough diamonds.

This "Kimberley-Plus" phase began on February 13 with a conference in Windhoek, and continued with further conferences in April, July, October and November. The current meeting, hosted by the Foreign Office between September 11 to 13, is the latest in the series.

Addressing the conference, Hain welcomed the fact that more countries were taking part in the process.

"I sympathise with those who are coming fresh to these discussions. Having recently returned to them after some months away from the Foreign Office, I am struck by how complex and difficult the issue has become," he said.

Hain told delegates that what started as a "simple and powerful concept" - stopping conflict diamonds fuelling wars - had come "a long way over the past year".

"Although the problem of conflict diamonds has arisen primarily in Africa, this is not just an African issue. Trading nations must also take on their share of the responsibility," he said.

However, the minister warned that an agreement needs to be reached soon.

"There is an urgent need for new regulations to be agreed and implemented. That is a year too long - a year in which more lives have been lost, more bodies maimed, more communities destroyed by war financed by conflict diamonds," said Hain.

"We must go away from Twickenham with agreement on the key elements of a regulatory scheme."

He listed a series of key areas for agreement, including minimum standards on internal controls for producer and trader states, certification for all exports of rough diamonds, the use of forgery resistant certificates and criminal penalties for those breaching laws on conflict diamonds

"The next three days are vital as we prepare for our last two sessions in Luanda and Gaborone," said Hain.

He said there should be no doubts British government was committed to the process.

"We will support re-export certification. And we will also work closely with our EU partners to ensure that we have appropriate European Community legislation in place as soon as possible. We share a political will to overcome the stickier issues."

The UN defines conflict diamonds as those that "originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council".

The British government has been leading efforts to reach agreement on the trade, having become engaged with the issue following its military intervention in Sierra Leone.

In Sierra Leone the rebel Revolutionary United Front forces occupy many diamond fields that help to fund its campaign against the country's government and its terrorising of the civilian population. There were reports that both Liberia and Burkina Faso were supporting the rebels and involved in the diamond trade.

The government believes the problem requires address for two key reasons. First, that rebels in countries such Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as in Sierra Leone are not only funded by the proceeds of illegal diamond mining but that capturing diamond-rich areas can become an end in itself.

Second, the government argues that the illegitimate trade in diamonds undermines the economies of countries such as Botswana, Namibia and South Africa which depend on the legitimate trade to bolster their economies.

Research by De Beers suggests that diamond sales by rebel groups accounted for around 3.7 per cent of the world's production of rough diamonds in 1999, but with the trade valued at $6.857 billion in 1999 that would still amount to $255 million.

De Beers estimates that rebels in Angola received $150 million, in Sierra Leone rebel sales amounted to around $70 million and that $35 million went to rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company dismissed claims that up to 20 per cent of global diamond sales are sourced from rebel-held areas.

As the meeting got underway, Amnesty International called on governments and the diamond industry to seize the opportunity to establish a transparent international diamond certification system.

"The apparent absence of monitoring of diamond mining in Sierra Leone makes it impossible to guarantee that the RUF is not still benefiting from the diamond trade. This clearly demonstrates the need for monitoring of diamonds from the mine to the point of export," Amnesty International said.

The World Diamond Council, which represents the diamond industry world wide, has said it is committed to the elimination of the trade of conflict diamonds.

"The diamond industry worldwide is committed to the enactment of strong legislation that will help establish an international system to ensure that only legitimate diamonds are traded," said Eli Izhakoff, chairman of the World Diamond Council on legislation introduced in the US Congress in June 2001 in support of the Kimberly Process.

"Our goal is to stop the abhorrent practices of rebel movements in Africa that use illegal diamond sales to finance their brutal insurgencies," Izhakoff said.

Up to 160 representatives of over 35 governments, the industry and civil society are expected to take part are expected in the conference.

Concluding his speech to delegates, Hain said: "Those whose lives have been ruined by conflict diamonds will not forgive any further delay."