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Al-Qaeda Funded by 'Blood Diamonds' - Empire? - Global Policy Forum Al-Qaeda Funded by 'Blood Diamonds'
Illicit Stones Traded to Pay for Terror Operations, UN Says
By Mike Blanchfield
Ottawa Citizen
February 9, 2003
Al-Qaeda continues to use "blood diamonds" from Sierra Leone to fund its international operations, says the chief prosecutor for the special United Nations court for the West African country. "I'm aware there is a connection. That connection is specific. They are moving diamonds as a commodity to launder their funds," David Crane told the Citizen in an exclusive interview.
Mr. Crane also criticized the UN process to eradicate the trade of blood diamonds and questioned whether the international diamond industry is sincerely committed to finding solutions. Blood diamonds have been used to finance civil wars in several African countries, including Sierra Leone and Angola, leading to millions of deaths.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, reports have emerged that al-Qaeda has used the trade in the illicit rough stones, culled from mines in areas controlled by rebel militias, to finance its own international operations.
Mr. Crane's comments appear to be the firmest to date linking al-Qaeda to the blood diamond trade of Sierra Leone. Last fall, the RCMP concluded that it could not say for sure whether al-Qaeda was connected to the trade, but "it is probably one of the many financing schemes used by al-Qaeda."
Mr. Crane's court was established six months ago to prosecute crimes related to Sierra Leone's civil war. The first criminal charges are still months away, he said. And while he predicted major indictments, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, will be brought against those directly responsible for the carnage wrought on civilians, Mr. Crane also said his tribunal would take aim at those who profited through the international blood diamond trade.
"They're all interconnected. They all work together. They know each other. It's a common plan, a scheme, to move diamonds as a commodity, to do whatever they need to trade it for cash, arms, or to launder money."
Critics have noted that the United States had little interest in supporting the battle against blood diamonds prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. The Kimberly Process involves 48 governments and the diamond industry in an attempt to create a certification system that would label legitimate stones, thereby blocking the sale of conflict diamonds and protecting the integrity of the $7.8-billion annual trade. About four per cent of that trade is in conflict diamonds.
But Mr. Crane is "skeptical" of the diamond industry's level of commitment to create an independent certification system. "The bottom line is, I am not optimistic the Kimberly Process will succeed," he said.
"I don't want to sound to cynical, but I think it is a way of appeasing concern about blood diamonds in the hopes it will cause the world to look elsewhere at other problems, away from diamond mining and corporations," he said.
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