By West Africa correspondent Mark Doyle

Former Sierra Leone rebel leader Foday Sankoh has ordered an immediate halt to all diamond mining in an attempt to stop an illegal trade that has helped destabilise and impoverish the country.

Millions of dollars worth of diamonds are smuggled out of Sierra Leone, and most of the diamond mines are in areas under Mr Sankoh's control.

But the rebel leader has signed a peace agreement under which - as chairman of the Strategic Resources Commission - he is responsible for the management of the diamond trade.

He said his decision had been made in consultation with President Ahmed Tajen Kabbah, and that anyone who wished to mine diamonds would have to go through his Commission to obtain a licence.

Those who did not, he said, would face the full consequences of the law.

Potentially crucial

Foday Sankoh's announcement has the potential to be one of the most important developments in Sierra Leone for a decade, but everything depends on its implementation.

Sierra Leoneans and their foreign partners have been smuggling the country's diamond wealth for years.

Hardly any of the proceeds go either to the government or to the bulk of the population, who remain among the poorest people in the world.

Illicit diamond mining also financed Mr Sankoh's rebel movement which, until it signed its peace agreement with the government last year, was responsible for widespread atrocities against civilians.

Scepticism

If the diamond trade really did come under the effective control of the government, and government officials then managed the proceeds honestly, Sierra Leone could be transformed from its current poverty-stricken, lawless condition.

But most Sierra Leoneans will be extremely sceptical about that happening, because after years of corruption and mismanagment they mistrust most politicians - especially Foday Sankoh, whose rebel movement all but destroyed the country.

On the other hand, Sierra Leoneans also know that only a powerful figure could even begin to bring the diamond mines under control, and Foday Sankoh is almost certainly the most powerful politician in Sierra Leone today.