(TALKZIMBABWE) 'Zim ready to pull out of Kimberley Process'

'Zim ready to pull out of Kimberley Process'
ItN/TZG
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:49:00 +0000

ZIMBABWE will pull of the diamond trade regulatory body, the Kimberly Process (KP), if the KP registers un-satisfaction with government efforts so far to meet its requirements, according to mines minister Obert Mpofu.

The KP, a global body created to curb trade in gems mined to fund conflict decided not to suspend Zimbabwe's membership last year, but set certain requirements the government has to meet before it can be allowed to trade freely.

The KP gave Harare a June 2010 deadline to make reforms to comply with its regulations.

"The KP is just a mere membership driven body. No one is forced to be a member of it," said Mpofu.

"If the KP is unsatisfied with our efforts and says we have failed to comply with their requirements to bar us from diamond trade, we will not lose sleep. We are ready to just pull put and not lose anything.

"The KP does not own the diamond trade markets. Zimbabwe will pull out of the KP and sell its diamonds to those markets,” he added in response to journalists' questions at a Press Club in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo.

Western countries and human rights groups last year lobbied for a suspension of Zimbabwe from diamond trade saying the precious minerals were being used to enrich President Mugabe and his allies.