Kimberley Process Team Asks Suspension of Zimbabwe Diamond Field Activity

Washington   06 July 2009

A Kimberley Process team visiting Zimbabwe to look into allegations of abuses in the Marange diamond field of Manicaland province has requested the production and export of diamonds from the area be suspended until effective security measures are put in place.

In an interim report handed to the Ministry of Mines on Saturday, the 11-member team also recommended that armed forces be withdrawn from the area.

Human Rights Watch recently charged that soldiers killed more than 200 people in the district and buried them in mass graves. The government has denied those allegations.

Deputy Mines Minister Murisi Zwizwai told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that his ministry will report on the findings to the unity government's cabinet when it meets Tuesday.

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