UN: Ivory Coast Arms, Diamond Embargoes Violated

The government and former rebels in Ivory Coast have repeatedly violated a U.N. arms embargo — and a ban on diamond exports is being flouted with help from many countries, according to a report by U.N. exports.

The West African nation was split into a rebel-controlled north and government-controlled south after an attempted coup sparked civil war in 2002. A peace deal in March 2007 brought key rebel leaders into the administration and offered the best hope yet of a single government after years of foundering accords and disarmament plans — but deep divisions remain.

In the report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Tuesday, the experts recommended that Burkina Faso investigate the transfer of arms, ammunition and other military equipment across the border to the rebel-controlled north "without delay." They said the systematic transfer of weapons may be linked to the smuggling of cocoa.

Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa producer and the government controls the largest share of cocoa production, in the south.

The experts noted suspicious cases linking cocoa revenue to the government's purchase of military material.

The U.N. Security Council imposed an arms embargo and other sanctions in 2004 and an embargo on buying rough diamonds in 2005. It is expected to renew the sanctions on Thursday.

Long-delayed presidential elections have been scheduled for Nov. 29, but election officials have said another delay is likely because of problems preparing for the vote.

The experts said the years of north-south polarization "have introduced new political and economic tensions in the crisis."

While the prospects of renewed north-south conflict "have diminished," the experts said the north is being run by 10 rebel commanders who use their military positions to compete for control over natural resources and commerce, sometimes violently.

"Should the political situation in the country deteriorate, and the economic interests of some parties be threatened by such events, the group cannot exclude a situation in which armed violence may escalate rapidly, particularly in the north," the report said.