Financial Gazette (Harare)

Zimbabwe: 'Country Won't Export Marange Diamonds'

13 November 2009

Harare — ZIMBABWE'S government won't export diamonds from its disputed Marange diamond fields until it has put in measures to better monitor trading in the gems.

"Zimbabwe agreed not to export Marange diamonds until the monitoring mechanism is established," Ian Kelly, a spokesman for the United States State Department, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

The Kimberley Process, a global body created to curb trade in gems mined to fund conflict, on November 5 decided not to suspend Zimbabwe's membership, saying it supports the nation's attempts to work toward compliance with the group's requirements.

Marange was seized by the Zimbabwe government from Maidstone, England-based African Consolidated Resources Plc in 2006 after gems were found.

As many as 20 000 illegal miners besieged the area, also known as Chiadzwa, and were later cleared off by the army and police. New York-based Human Rights Watch alleges more than 200 miners were killed last year.

Zimbabwe's police say they have no reports of the atrocities.

Tagged: Business, Human Rights, Mining, Southern Africa, Zimbabwe

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