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The egg-sized gem -- known as the "Peace
Diamond" -- was bought by British luxury jeweler Laurence Graff,
said Martin Rapaport, chairman of Rapaport Group, a network of
diamond companies that managed the auction.
"One hundred percent of the value of this diamond, of the
auction sale of this diamond, is going to go to the government
and the people of Sierra Leone. Never before has this happened,"
Rapaport told reporters.
The gem was unearthed in March in Sierra Leone's eastern Kono
region by a Christian pastor who gave it to the government to
handle the sale.
It was the government's second attempt to sell the diamond after
it rejected the highest bid of $7.8 million at an initial
auction in the capital Freetown in May.
Ahead of Monday's auction the diamond was shown to some 70
potential buyers and received seven bids, Rapaport said.
"We showed the diamond everywhere. We did whatever we could and
that's the best price that we can get from the market today," he
said.
The United Nations lifted a ban on diamond exports from Sierra
Leone in 2003, though the $113 million sector is plagued by
smuggling.
Diamonds fueled a decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone, ending
in 2002, in which rebels forced civilians to mine the stones and
bought weapons with the proceeds, leading to the term "blood
diamonds."
(Reporting by Reuters Television, Editing by Darren Schuettler)
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