He promised to share Sierra Leone's vast diamond wealth more widely but this was never implemented in areas under his control.

BBC: Foday Sankoh: The cruel rebel

One example is the war being waged over control of diamond mines in Sierra Leone.

FORBES: Africa and economics

But others are the product of collapsing states, heightened ethnic tensions and violence driven by economic goals (such as diamond extraction in Sierra Leone and battles for oil in Angola).

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An estimated 15, 000 are still roaming around, some of them in control of the rich diamond deposits in eastern Sierra Leone.

ECONOMIST: Sierra Leone: Out of control | The

Prosecutors say Taylor gave Campbell a diamond during the war in Sierra Leone, contradicting Taylor's testimony that he never handled the precious stones that fueled the conflict.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

It is to the shame of the whole world that a lack of transparency allowed the illicit diamond trade to fuel appalling conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

WSJ: David Cameron: A British-American Tax and Trade Agenda

President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone rejected a ceasefire offer from rebels until they withdrew from diamond areas.

ECONOMIST: Europe's troubles

That the defendants have written and circulated false documents which are being used by the International Community, especially Great Britain and the United States of America to support their allegation that the Government of Liberia is involved with Diamond Trading and Gun Running in the sisterly state of Sierra Leone.

BBC: News Online