THE president of Liberia, Dr. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, has appointed a Diamond Task Force to work on implementing the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in the West African country so that international diamond export sanctions can be lifted.

The UN Security Council recently voted to extend the ban on diamond exports from Liberia until the end of the year. The sanctions were originally imposed in 2001 to stop then-dictator Charles Taylor from using smuggled diamonds to fund the brutal civil wars in his country and neighboring Sierra Leone. The international outcry that resulted helped lead to the establishment of the Kimberley Process itself. But although Taylor was ousted in August 2003 and now awaits trial for his crimes, UN fact-finding teams have found that the country still lacks adequate controls, leading to the continuation of sanctions.

Among the members of the Diamond Task Force are its chairman, Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy, Dr. Eugene Shannon; the U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, Donald Booth; the head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, Alan Doss; and the Chinese Ambassador to Liberia, Lin Songtian.