adminunconditional sale of gems from the Marange diamond fields.
US government conflict diamond advisor, Brad Brooks-Rubin, had drafted the sanctions.
He proposed that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development should be engaged in the determination of expanding the definition of conflict diamonds.
OECD is an international economic organisation of 34 countries geared to stimulate economic progress and world trade.
Brad Brooks-Rubin has over the past few weeks created what has been dubbed the Brad Tele-conferencing Group (BTG) by diamond analysts. Through this tele-conferencing network, the US has been communicating with officials from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Canadian government and several officials from the European Commission to bar the sale of Marange diamonds by engaging the OECD.
The group met in Washington DC recently, where they are said to have been joined by US and Canadian based members in the diamond and jewellery industry and resolved that diamonds from Marange were not ‘from a responsible supply chain.’
Mines and Mining Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu confirmed the development saying the US and its allies were left with egg on the face in Dubai.
“About two weeks ago the West were rubbished off in Dubai, where they raised the idea of creating a super KPCS by involving the OECD,” Minister Mpofu said.
“The whole idea was to put Marange diamonds under the spotlight and label them as blood diamonds, however their fresh attempts were resisted by delegates.
“It seems they tried to push their agenda ahead of the World Diamond Conference starting today in Israel, unfortunately for them Zimbabwe has been called personally by the WDC president Eli Izhakoff.
Israel diamond analyst, Mr Chaim Evan Zohar, said Brad Brooks Rubin had over the past year been coming up with ideas to block Marange diamonds on the world market.
“Determined to expand the scope of conflict diamond definition, combined with the compelling political environment to keep sanctioned Zimbabwe rough and polished diamonds out of the US, the State department, during Brooks-Rubin reign over conflict diamonds, would every two years or so come up with a different KP enhancement programme.
“However, none of them came to fruition,” wrote Evan Zohar in the latest diamond intelligence brief released after the summit in Dubai.
Dr Mpofu said major players in the diamond industry had realised that the West and its allies were sabotaging the diamond industry and the economy of Zimbabwe.
Speaking at the official opening of the Dubai precious metals conference, executive chairman of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, said the West was mistaken by imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe.
“Sanctions deny Zimbabwe its lifeblood. Sanctions have been lifted in Burma, while ethnic cleansing is happening at the same time, Zimbabwe is Utopia compared to that,” he said.
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