US launches bid to block Zimbabwe diamond sales

THE US Government has launched a fresh bid to block Zimbabwe from selling diamonds to the international markets after the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme last Friday allowed the country to trade Marange gems.

The remarks by the US come barely a week after the KPCS grantedZimbabwe the greenlight to unconditionally sell their diamonds at its Intercessional meeting in Kinshasa, DRC.

In a statement through its embassy in Harare, the US government said it was disappointed by the KPCS' decision allowing Zimbabwe to trade in its Marange diamonds.

"The United States is deeply disappointed with the Kinshasa Intercessional as it related to Zimbabwe.
The United States has been a strong supporter of the Kimberly Process in the past and desires to find a way forward for the Kimberley Process that includes Zimbabwe and preserves the credibility of the process.

"The United States believes that progress with respect to exports from the Marange area of Zimbabwe can occur solely through a mechanism agreed to by consensus among KP participants," said Victoria Nuland, spokesperson for the State Department.

She added: "We believe that work towards a solution must continue, and that until consensus is reached, exports from Marange should not proceed."

Nuland claimed there was no consensus at the Kinshasa meeting on the sale of Marange diamonds.

"The Kinshasa Intercessional did not reach a consensus text. The Chair has circulated a text to participants which did not attract consensus," she said.

Mr Mathieu Yamba of the DRC chairs the KPCS. Nuland said the US remained ready to work with the KPCS chair and other participants to find a solution.

The US went on to applaud such countries as the Central African Republic, Ghana, Guinea and Liberia for effective diamond sector governance. The US wants active participation of the civil society, which it sponsors, at Marange.

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