Nations lifted an embargo, hoping the revival of the industry will fund reconstruction rather than lead to more bloodshed.
of West Africa during the 1990s.
of gems from conflict areas, known as "blood diamonds".
diamonds to be used for development and not to support conflict," first two offices on Tuesday.
"The process means job creation for our people," added Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained former World Bank economist who percent of people have no job, including many ex-fighters.
to exile of President Charles Taylor, who is now in a cell in The fomenting war in Sierra Leone.
The U.N. Security Council lifted a 6-year ban on Liberian diamond exports on Friday, saying the government had acted to meet the Kimberley requirements.
It said it would review the decision in 90 days in the light of Liberia's compliance.
the U.N.
," Johnson-Sirleaf said at a ceremony to open the first of the former diamond trading centre of Tubmanburg, 75 km (50 miles) north of the capital Monrovia.
countries across Africa, including Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo, and inspired the 2006 film set in Sierra Leone and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond.
diamond revenues could help pay to rebuild her country.
In Tubmanburg, she acted out selling a diamond with Washington, a U.N. spokesman said, though there was no room in the cramped container for journalists to watch.
The end of the U.N. diamond embargo marks another step towards rebuilding Liberia, founded in 1847 by freed slaves from America, after years of fighting and looting.
was once the world's fifth-biggest iron ore export industry.
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