JOHANNESBURG (Commodity Online): Kimberley Process, the diamond body, this week refused to ban Zimbabwe diamonds even though an investigation body appointed by it said the diamonds coming from some mines in Zimbabwe are smuggled in by the army.

The KP said those gems don’t qualify as blood diamonds, and game Zimbabwe another chance to get its Marange fields under control.

Kimberley Process probe team had recommended that Zimbabwe be suspended, meaning many consumers would have shunned the country’s diamonds.

In a communique issued in Namibia, KP said its investigators found evidence of Zimbabwe’s significant noncompliance. Zimbabwe agreed to take steps, including pulling soldiers out and allowing monitors in to become compliant, and the country would be given time to do so under Kimberley Process monitoring.

According to newspaper reports,  Zimbabwean Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu told the meeting in Namibia that his country needed more technical help from the Kimberley Process to get Marange in order.

The Kimberley Process was established in 2002 by governments, the diamond industry and rights groups in an attempt to stem the flow of blood diamonds, gems sold to fund fighting across Africa.

Global Witness, an international human rights groups that helped establish the process, also has called for it to be strengthened.

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