Sierra Leone (Hansard, 21 June 2000)

§ Mr. Worthington
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Belgian Government on the regulation of the diamond industry in connection with Sierra Leone; and if he will make a statement. [126679]

§ Mr. Hain
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I have each raised the issue of conflict diamonds with the Belgian Foreign Minister, stressing the need for early international action to prevent revenue from illicit diamond trading fuelling conflict. Officials met with representatives of the Belgian Government and the Diamond High Council of Antwerp this month to discuss a draft United Nations Security Council resolution, proposed by the UK, which would ban trade in diamonds from Sierra Leone which were not certified as legitimate by the Government of Sierra Leone.

§ Mr. Worthington
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the strength and composition of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Sierra Leone. [126681]
232W

§ Mr. Hain
The strength of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) now exceeds 12,500. Principal troop contributors currently include Bangladesh, Ghana, Guinea, India, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. Her Majesty's Government continue to provide direct headquarters, intelligence and logistic support to UNAMSIL.

§ Mr. Worthington
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of paramilitary activists in Sierra Leone who have voluntarily disarmed and entered into rehabilitation programmes. [126680]

§ Mr. Hain
Of the estimated total of 45,000 combatants in Sierra Leone, by the end of April, some 24,000 had entered the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme under the Lomé Peace Agreement.
One of the key priorities now is to establish a revised programme for those combatants willing genuinely to disarm.