RAPAPORT… The Ivory Coast will face sanctions on its diamond trade until at least October 31, 2009. The United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously approved a resolution drafted by France that extends the ban on selling arms to the country and buying rough diamonds from it for another year.
The Council made presidential elections part of the deal. It will review sanctions “no later than three months after the holding of open, free, fair and transparent presidential elections.”
Cote d’Ivoire plans to hold a presidential election on November 30, but some press reports have quoted unnamed sources saying this date is in jeopardy due to difficulties registering voters.
The Council ordered a midterm review by April 2009, and requested that the Kimberley Process (KP) “communicate as appropriate to the Security Council, through the [review] committee, information which, where possible, has been reviewed by the group of experts, concerning the production and illicit export of diamonds.”
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