From 1989 to 2001 Liberia was engaged in a civil war. The Kimberley Process was too late to stop the alleged use by Taylor of the stones to arm and control the RUF, a rebel force responsible for widespread attacks in Sierra Leone. Taylor allegedly used blood diamonds from the RUF to buy weapons which he is said to have shipped from Burkina Faso to the Sierra Leone junta at the Magburaka airfield in October 1997. Around the time of the 1998 United States embassy bombings, Al-Qaeda allegedly bought gems from Liberia as some of its other financial assets were frozen.
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