Zim gets a bye on ‘blood diamonds’
Zimbabwe has not been suspended from the Kimberly Process diamond certification scheme, which regulates the sale of “blood diamonds”, after the army was said to have used rifles, dogs, batons and tear gas on illegal miners in the country’s Marange field. Reports say women are being raped and diamonds are being sold illegally in neighbouring Mozambique. However, the 70-member international diamond trade body agreed to give Zimbabwe more time to reform its practices, despite claims by rights groups that soldiers last year killed about 200 people involved in gem mining. Read more: BBC, AP
