A new report on illegal diamond trading in Sierra Leone has called on the international diamond industry to stop buying diamonds from the nearby states of Liberia and Ivory Coast.

The report, by a Canadian group called Partnership Africa Canada, says the diamonds are smuggled there by rebels accused of widespread atrocities in Sierra Leone.

It is particularly critical of diamond traders in London and Antwerp for turning a blind eye, saying that Liberia and Ivory Coast couldn't possibly produce the huge quantities of diamonds they export. The study estimates that if Sierra Leone had a well-organised mining industry, it could have earned more than fifteen-billion dollars from diamonds in the last sixty years.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service