because of their potential link to Sierra Leone diamond traders.

A worldwide movement is underway to protest human rights abuses that are occurring in the West African country and Bermuda could soon follow suit.

Amnesty International Bermuda spokesman Ayo Johnson said Sierra Leone was a country with a vast supply of natural resources including diamonds.

"We are going to write to the local jewellery stores in an effort to bring about awareness of the diamond trade,'' Mr. Johnson said.

"We want them to know that the trade of their diamonds may potentially have come at the cost of a child's life.'' And yesterday Britain called for ban on trade in "blood diamonds''.

Britain wants a United Nations resolution banning the trade in diamonds that is fuelling the civil war in Sierra Leone.

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who is to visit Freetown for a meeting on Thursday with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, said only diamonds certified as legitimate by the government of Sierra Leone should be traded.

Britain and human rights groups have demanded an end to the trade in so-called "conflict'' or "blood'' diamonds -- gems from war zones like Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola, often used to finance arms purchases.

"We must take action outside Sierra Leone to regulate the trade in its diamonds,'' Mr. Cook told parliament.

"We are exploring with partners in the Security Council our proposal for a UN resolution banning the trade in diamonds from Sierra Leone except where they are certified as legitimate by the government of Sierra Leone,'' he said.

British-based aid group Oxfam welcomed Mr. Cook's statement, saying lax controls on the international diamond trade had allowed warlords "to make a killing.'' It added: "The challenge now is to establish an international system of marking diamonds and tracking them from mining to sale.'' According to Amnesty International, the profits from the Sierra Leone diamonds, that are sold to various countries, are used to fund weapons for the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a group of rebels who have committed widespread human rights atrocities in Sierra Leone.

Rebel fighting by the RUF is occurring in regions rich with diamonds. Mr.

Johnson said families are being murdered and butchered so that the rebels can manipulate control of the diamond resources.

This has contributed to the already ten years of political and civil instability of the country.

As a result, Amnesty International is demanding an end to the international trade in diamonds from rebel held areas of Sierra Leone.

"We want to highlight our concerns,'' said Mr. Johnson.

"We don't want to boycott, we just want to know where their (Bermuda jewellers) source of diamonds is coming from. Our concern is in regard to the human rights abuses.'' However local jewellers pointed out that they received diamonds from all parts of the world, and not necessarily Sierra Leone.

"Yes I am familiar with the situation,'' said Stephen Mello, manager at Astwood Dickinson, "but the majority of our diamonds are from South Africa and other parts of the world.'' A spokeswoman from Crisson's said: "We have hundreds of suppliers, but South Africa is probably the major supplier of the stones.'' Whether a UN resolution would have much effect on the trade in illegal diamonds remains to be seen. Industry analysts say buyers will always be found for gems of dubious origin.

Stopping the sale of `blood diamonds' Mr. Cook said Britain was sending a team of around 180 soldiers for short-term training of the Sierra Leone army, but British marine commandos would withdraw from the West African nation on schedule next week.

Shortly before Mr. Cook spoke, a senior Commonwealth adviser, who is joining the board of a diamond company with a $1 billion concession in the Congo, announced his resignation.

Moses Anafu quit following allegations that he had close business links with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his government. He denied the claims, but said he would step down in December as the Commonwealth's special advisor on Africa.

Mr. Anafu, who is Ghanaian, is to become a non-executive director of a new company called Oryx Diamonds Ltd.

The company has agreements to share profits from its diamond sales with companies linked to the governments of Mr. Mugabe and President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Last week the Commonwealth, a 54-nation group of mainly former British colonies, recalled Mr. Anafu as an election observer from Zimbabwe after the allegations surfaced in British media.

In a statement, he rejected the allegations as "false'' and said he had resigned "so as not to foster the perception engendered by these reports that the role of the Commonwealth in the forthcoming Zimbabwean elections has been compromised.'' Oryx Diamonds meanwhile insisted there was no reason for it to abandon plans to list its shares on London's junior Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on June 13.

"We are satisfied that Oryx has fulfilled all appropriate criteria required for admission to the Alternative Investment Market,'' a spokesman for the company's financial advisor said. The company, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and run from Oman, denies its diamond concession near the Mbuji Mayi area in southern Congo is in a conflict zone.