Diamond Watchdog Gives Zimbabwe Time To Comply

DONNA BRYSON

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Investigators for the world's diamond control body say the gems were mined by virtual slaves who had been told to dig or die, and were smuggled out by soldiers who rape and beat civilians.

Yet the Kimberley Process, the diamond body, said those gems don't qualify as "blood diamonds," and instead of sanctioning Zimbabwe is giving the country another chance to get its Marange fields under control.

In a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press, investigators for the Kimberley Process had recommended that Zimbabwe be suspended, meaning many consumers would have shunned the country's diamonds. Instead, officials ended their annual deliberations this week with a decision Zimbabwe be given another chance to improve control over its Marange diamond fields.

In a communique issued late Thursday in Namibia, the group said its investigators found evidence of Zimbabwe's "significant noncompliance." Zimbabwe agreed to take steps, including pulling soldiers out and allowing monitors in to become compliant, and the country would be given time to do so under Kimberley Process monitoring, the group said.

According to Zimbabwe's Herald newspaper, a mouthpiece for the ZANU-PF party whose officials are believed to be reaping the proceeds from sales of Marange diamonds, Zimbabwean Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu told the meeting in Namibia that his country needed more technical help from the Kimberley Process to get Marange in order.