April 2, 2002
Angola's Unita rebels, who signed a ceasefire deal with the army on Saturday, had lost most of their territory since 1998 but managed to keep fighting because of their illegal trade in diamonds. The United Nations has tried to curb the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola's (Unita) traffic in "blood diamonds", thus cutting off the rebels' financial lifeline.
Despite the UN embargo on Unita diamonds in 1993 - and other measures including an arms embargo, a travel ban on the group's leaders, the closure of its overseas offices and financial sanctions - the rebels have continued selling the precious stones. Unita lost most of its territory after a 1998 offensive by the Angolan army, but Savimbi's rebel group has tenaciously clung to diamond-rich regions in the north.
Experts in Luanda estimate that Unita earns some $500 million every year from the illegal diamond trade, a war treasury that allows the rebels to mount deadly guerrilla operations across the country. Savimbi's rebels found arms dealers prepared to trade weapons for the gems, mainly in the former eastern bloc.
International traders 'ready to deal with Unita'
Angola's government has tried to stem the diamond trafficking by creating a "certificate of origin", which guarantees that a diamond was mined in government-held territory.
Luanda also gave exclusive diamond export rights to the Angola Selling Corporation (Ascorp), which includes Angola's Sodiam company, Israel's Wellox, and the Belgian-Swiss firm Tais. "It's clear that international traders are always ready to bypass the sanctions and buy diamonds coming from Unita," UN official Juan Larrain said two years ago, when he was assigned to shed light on the trade.
"It is very difficult, even in countries that have the will, to prevent diamond smuggling," and Unita benefits from the complicity of neighbouring African nations and European arms exporters, he said. The government also relied on Angola's mineral wealth to finance its side of the war, mainly through oil and diamond sales.
About 10% of Angola's budget goes to defence, according to official figures, and oil accounts for nearly all government income. Since 1999, the government also has control over the production of one million carats in diamonds, and has boosted that production by seizing Unita territory.
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