U.N. Puzzled by Liberia Secret Diamond Export Deal

A U.N. Panel of Experts, in Liberia to ensure Security Council sanctions on diamond exports are enforced, was surprised to discover the government signed a 10-year exclusive exporting rights deal with an unknown company that is owned by a private British bank. The company, WAMCO, has no diamond experience.

“The National Transitional Government of Liberia has signed a secret agreement with the West African Mining Corporation (WAMCO), a company financed by the privately-owned London International Bank Limited," the panel said in its latest report to the U.N. Security Council.

One odd explanation for the deal was given by Liberia's Deputy Minister of Land, Mines and Energy, Mulbah Willie to the U.N. News agency IRIN: “They were the first that came to Liberia and asked us – they said that they wanted to buy diamonds”.

He later added that: “This is merely a statement of intent, and as far as I am aware, no deal with WAMCO had been ratified by parliament,” conceding that he was not familiar with all the details of the agreement.

To add to the oddity of the deal, the Panel found during a meeting with representatives of WAMCO in Monrovia that the company “had no previous experience in the mining sector whatsoever", the Panel said in its report.

This led the U.N. delegation to say that the deal was signed in an “atmosphere of secrecy” with a company of “unknown provenance”.

The Panel went on to recommend that the U.N. Security Council maintain its ban on diamond exports from the war-ravaged country.

London International Bank is a private bank with offices in Grosvenor Place in central London.

Last December the Security Council extended its ban on exports of rough diamonds and timber from Liberia for an additional six months, scheduling a review for March.