No blood diamond conflict in Zim: Oppenheimer

In comments that give an insight into why the KP failed to reach consensus on Zimbabwe at its meeting in Israel last week, De Beers executive director Jonathan Oppenheimer said the fact that a legitimate government was in charge in Harare also helps complicate matters for the diamond regulator.

The KP normally acts to stop rebel movements from using revenue earned from illegal diamonds to finance wars against legitimate governments.

The coalition government of President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara that was formed under a compromise power sharing deal brokered by former South African President Thabo Mbeki following inconclusive elections in 2008 enjoys legitimacy internationally.

Oppenheimer said: “Right now in Zimbabwe, where we can all agree that the diamond mining that is taking place is a concern, there is no overt conflict and we have a legitimate government.

And so the Kimberley Process itself is in a very difficult position. It feels like it needs to act. The community wants it to act. We’ve seen a dialogue within the Kimberley Process system that is looking at ways to act.”??

The KP failed last week failed to reach consensus on whether to allow Zimbabwe to resume trade in gems from its Marange fields, where the regulator last year documented brutal abuses of workers by the military.

Human Rights Watch claims harassment of workers is continuing and that some as young as 11 are forced to hand their finds to military guards, who then sell them on the black market. ??

Critics also say revenue earned from previous sales of Marange diamonds never went to public coffers but was illegally siphoned away by top military commanders and politicians from Mugabe s Zanu (PF) party who control the diamond field.

The KP has said it will resume discussions on the Marange diamonds on July 14-15 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. ??

But the Zimbabwe government has said it plans to immediately sell more than 3 million carats of stockpiled diamonds from the controversial Marange fields saying it has met all conditions set by the KP.

The KPs Zimbabwe monitor Abbey Chikane controversially said in a report that Zimbabwe had met all requirements set by the diamond body and should be allowed to resume exports.

The KP brings together governments, industry and civil society in an effort to stop the flow of “blood diamonds” — rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments.