Angola

In 1997, the United Nations (UN) placed Angola under sanctions forbidding countries from buying diamonds from them. This was the first resolution of the UN which specifically mentioned diamonds in the context of funding the war. Reports estimated that as much as 20% of total production in the 1990s were being sold for illegal purposes, and 19% were specifically conflict in nature.The Kimberley Controls: How Effective? Partnership Africa Canada Website accessed January 8, 2007 By 1999, the illegal diamond trade was estimated by the World Diamond Council to have been reduced to 3.06% of the world's diamond production.Conflict diamonds World Diamond Council website - DiamondFacts.org, accessed November 5, 2006 The World Diamond Council reported that by 2004 this percentage had fallen to approximately 1%.

Angola, formerly a colony of Portugal, gained independence on November 11, 1975. Although independent, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) fought in civil war from 1975 to 2002. UNITA sold diamonds abroad in violation of the Bicesse Accords of 1994 to finance its war with the government. The UN recognized the role that diamonds played in funding the UNITA rebels, and in 1998 banned countries from buying diamonds from Angola.Conflict diamonds World Diamond Council website - DiamondFacts.org, accessed November 5, 2006

Liberia

From 1988 to 2001 Liberia was engaged in a civil war. In 2000, the UN accused Liberian president Charles G. Taylor of supporting the RUF insurgency in Sierra Leone with weapons and training in exchange for diamonds. In 2001 the UN applied sanctions on the Liberian diamond trade. In August 2003 Taylor stepped down as president, and after being exiled to Nigeria, now faces trial in The Hague. On July 21, 2006 he pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Around the time of the 1998 United States embassy bombings, al-Qaeda allegedly bought gems from Liberia as some of its other financial assets were frozen.Lucy Jones , Al-Qaeda 'traded blood diamonds', 20 February, 2003, BBC News Online, Retrieved on 30 October 2007.

Liberia today is at peace and is attempting to construct a legitimate diamond mining industry, and the UN has lifted sanctions and Liberia is now a member of the Kimberley Process.