Diamonds as Africa's Friend?

It used to be that if you bought a DeBeers diamond, you might be supporting a war in Africa.

But on Monday, the company that controls most of the world's diamond market agreed not to sell or buy diamonds that can be detected as coming from rebel areas in Africa.

That may or may not cut the flow of money to rebels who dig for diamonds in their areas to buy arms on the black market. DeBeers should probably have acted faster to curb this trade. But now it can be commended for trying to help Africa end the wars that hold back its progress.

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