South African and American diplomats said this week that they expected Zimbabwe to implement "stringent controls" according to a "very tight work plan" to make the country's diamond exports comply with the Kimberley Process (KP).

In a statement issued in Washington, DC, U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that Zimbabwe would be suspended from the process if it failed to adhere to the policies outlined in a work plan adopted at a recent meeting of parties to the process.

"In light of serious concerns about Zimbabwe’s compliance with the KP rough diamond certification scheme, we await full and expeditious implementation of the stringent controls that were agreed at the KP plenary in Swakopmund, Nambia... for exports of rough diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange fields," said Kelly. He noted that Zimbabwe had agreed not to export diamonds from Marange until their production was properly monitored.

The Kimberley Process is an initiative designed to prevent the export of diamonds mined in areas of conflict. More than 200 miners were allegedly killed by soldiers during a military operation that sought to gain control of the Marange fields last year. The fields are a source of alluvial diamonds, which are found by sifting through gravel and sand in river beds.

In a briefing to journalists in Pretoria this week, Ayanda Ntsaluba, director-general of South Africa's Department of International Relations, said discussions at the Swakopmund meeting had been "very heated."

"Some people... called for the suspension of Zimbabwe," Ntsabula said, according to a transcript. "Others, the majority... [were ready] to agree with the government of Zimbabwe on a very tight work plan which will try to restore the operations... to fully accord with the expectations and the decisions of the Kimberley Process."

South Africa thought that giving Zimbabwe more time to comply with the process was "the correct outcome," Ntsabula said. "We are particularly happy with that outcome."