Is the US conflicted over conflict diamonds? My colleague working in Sierra Leone sends this Financial Times article, highlighting this passage:

"Alex Yearsley, of London-based Global Witness, alleges that the CIA and FBI long had tried to publicly minimize links between conflict diamonds and Islamic militant groups, including al-Qaida. The U.S. security agents feared exposure of their own longtime links with Charles Taylor, the ousted Liberian leader who played a main role in West Africa's insurgencies and blood diamond trade, Yearsley said. Taylor received CIA payments until January 2001, Yearsley claimed in a telephone interview."

That is pretty explosive. No wonder Washington has been so wishy washy about pushing for Taylor's handover to the special court in Sierre Leone to face war crimes charges.

Read the whole article, here.

Posted by Laura at June 30, 2004 10:16 AM