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Zimbabwe for a tour of the Marange diamond fields with Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu, reiterating that Zimbabwe has nothing to hide as it has complied with all the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) requirements.
The remarks by the minister follow unconfirmed reports in the international media this week that the EU plans to lift the ban on the Chiadzwa diamonds.
“The European Union is a member of the KPCS and is free to visit our diamonds fields if they want. We have nothing to hide and they are free to come anytime,” Minister Mpofu said yesterday. He said the EU had no reason to be behaving the way it was doing at the moment.
The EU has been advocating for a ban on the sale of the Chiadzwa diamonds citing fictitious claims of human rights abuses in Marange without first hand information on developments there. Minister
Mpofu warned that Government could be forced to stop exports of diamonds to the EU by some international mining firms operating in Zimbabwe as a reciprocal measure.
“They (EU) are the major beneficiaries of our diamonds. Murowa Diamonds exports all its diamonds to the EU and we could stop them,” he added. Minister Mpofu, however, warmed up to reports that the EU was re-considering its tough stance on the Chiadzwa gems.
“That will be appreciated,” he said.
Reports that the EU intended to lift a ban on the Chiadzwa diamonds forced the media in Britain, in particular the BBC, to make fresh false claims about alleged torture bases in Chiadzwa. The EU has been hesitant to visit Chiadzwa.
There is also no concrete evidence that the BBC had visited Chiadzwa. Last month a Zimbabwean based EU team called off a visit to the diamond mining area in what observers said it feared that its allegations of human rights abuses would be disproved.
This was after permission was given to the team to tour the fields and get first hand information on developments in the area.
EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Aldo Dell’ Ariccia, confirmed last month that Minister Mpofu had given him and other diplomats the greenlight to visit Chiadzwa.
He said they did not go to Chiadzwa “because it has not been possible to find mutually convenient time to make the visit.”
Zimbabwe is now the world’s seventh biggest diamond producer with the country riding fast to the top despite illegal economic sanctions imposed by Britain, US and the EU.
Online Reporter