Kono diamond mining suspended
The Sierra Leone government has called for an inquiry into the unrest over diamond-mining operations in the eastern district of Kono, where residents were killed during protests in the second week of December, 2007. The government has asked the mining company, Koidu Holdings, to suspend its operations in Kono's Koidu town until the inquiry is over. A 10 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew has been imposed in the area.
Irate residents of Koidu say the company's mining operations in the area has affected their lives. Besides, the company has reneged on agreements to compensate the project-affected people and provide better living conditions to displaced families, they say. Earlier in November, they sent a resolution to Koidu Holdings and the government, posing an