DRC GOLD IS FUNDING REBELS
Nov 17th, 2009 by admin
Gold continues to be smuggled out of the Democratic Republic of Congo despite sanctions, the United Nations claims. The coordinator of UN arms embargo experts, Dino Mahtani, told the BBC around 40 tonnes of gold continues to be taken out of the country each year. He said most of the profits from the illegal gold trade are being used to fund armed rebel groups in the country, especially the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Mr Mahtani mentioned a recent Congolese Senate report that estimated the illegal trade is worth around 1.24 billion US dollars per year. Most of the gold is believed to be shipped to Dubai via Uganda, he said.