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UN Security Council votes unanimously to lift a ban on importing diamonds from Ivory Coast

The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to lift a ban on importing rough diamonds from Ivory Coast.

A resolution adopted Tuesday immediately terminates sanctions imposed in 2005 on diamond imports.

The Security Council maintained an arms embargo on the west African nation, with exceptions for the U.N. peacekeeping mission and disarmament efforts, and a requirement that the Ivorian government get advance U.N. approval for any arms shipments. It also maintained financial and travel bans.

In lifting the ban, the council welcomed "the overall progress towards restoring security, peace and stability."

Ivory Coast was split into a rebel-controlled north and government-controlled south after an attempted coup sparked civil war in 2002. A peace deal in 2007 unraveled, and the country headed to the brink of civil war in early 2011.