n adopted July 5 [2000] calling on all states to prohibit the import of all rough diamonds from Sierra Leone until the government comes up with a U.N.-approved certificate-of-origin regime. (CNN) This plan will hopefully prevent the RUF from making profits off their illegally mined blood diamonds. Another country that is involved in these diamond wars is Liberia. It is thought that the Liberian government has been involved in illegal activities dealing with the trade of arms for diamonds. The president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, has been accused of supporting the RUF for some time now. Taylor has been blamed for trying to profit from the civil war in Sierra Leone. The United States has threatened to impose sanctions against Liberia for allegedly helping to transfer arms across its border to Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in exchange for diamonds. (IRIN) Of course Taylor denies these accusations. Liberian President: Charles TaylorLiberia is a country that has been socially and economically wounded by many years of civil war. The years of fighting coupled with the flight of most businesses has disrupted formal economic activity. A still unsettled domestic security situation has slowed the process of rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn country. (CIA Fact Book) The civil war broke out in the year 1989 when The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), lead by Charles Taylor, invaded Liberia. This invasion was utterly brutal due to the murders of hundreds of innocent civilians by the NPFL. Many native Liberians fled their home country to avoid being slain. This civil war was horrific and extremely tragic. Over 10 percent of the population, mostly innocent civilians were murdered; about three-quarters of the population became either refugees or displaced people; out of the 60,000 rebel fighters that were recruited by the warlords, about 60 percent were "child soldiers", a...
