By Celean Jacobson
Johannesburg - Despite their notorious reputation, "conflict diamonds" make up less than one percent of the global trade in the sparkling gemstones,
a South African report said on Wednesday.
However, the report by Business Leadership South Africa, an association of the country's top executives, warned that consumer concerns over "conflict diamonds pose a long-term threat to the
industry".
'It is not diamonds that cause wars' The illegal trade in "conflict diamonds" - sometimes known as blood diamonds - have fuelled and funded wars in Africa, killing millions in Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Films like The Blood Diamond, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, have helped bring attention to the issue and put industry players such as South Africa's De Beers on the defensive.
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The company, which is the world's largest producer of diamonds, is also part of the association that funded the report.
Titled, "The stuff of legends", the report examines diamonds and development in southern Africa.
It said there had been a decline in the amount of conflict diamonds being traded from about 15 percent in the mid-1990s.
'It is a good thing we are being scrutinised'
This was due to efforts such as the Kimberley Process, which aims to stem the flow of conflict diamonds by forcing participants to certify the origins of the diamonds being traded, as well as
progress in resolving political tensions in many African countries.
"Conflict diamonds have been largely if not completely contained," said one of the authors, Brooks Spector.
Spector said conflict diamonds continued to stem from West African countries such as Ghana and Tanzania and stressed the political concerns underlying the trade in illicit diamonds.
"It is not diamonds that cause wars. Wars and conflict lead to unregulated trade in diamonds," he said.
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