ZIMBABWE: UK SEEKS TO CURB DIAMOND EXPORTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 000155 SIPDIS DEPART FOR AF/S DEPART ALSO FOR EEB/ESC/IEC - BROOKS-RUBIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2019 TAGS: PREL EMIN UNSC ZU ZI UK SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE: UK SEEKS TO CURB DIAMOND EXPORTS REF: A. 09 HARARE 24 ¶B. 08 HARARE 1035 ¶C. 08 HARARE 1016 Classified By: Political Counselor Richard Mills, reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) FCO Minister for Africa Mark Malloch-Brown has instructed the Foreign Office to push the Kimberley Process (KP) to investigate Zimbabwe's KP eligibility and issue a statement about Zimbabwe's trafficking of conflict diamonds (reftels). In the interim because KP "is so slow," Malloch-Brown has requested NGOs like Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) be approached to do research and reporting on the situation, FCO Zimbabwe Desk Officer Tracy Walton said on January 15. Walton recommended that the USG and HMG lobby the KP in a "separate but coordinated" manner to see a statement issued as soon as possible. Walton noted that the EU was considering a ban on the import of Zimbabwe diamonds, but said that Belgium had mounted opposition. According to Walton, Belgium was amiable to UN -- not EU -- sanctions because Belgium did not want any country in the world to trade the diamonds if Belgium could not. Walton also said the Czech Republic, in its capacity as the EU President, had been very active in the discussions. HMG sees Russia as the biggest obstacle in the UN to implementing sanctions. China, Walton assessed, is "uninterested" in the diamonds but appears to be distancing itself from the Mugabe regime. ¶2. (C) Discussing the mechanism of how the diamonds circumvent the KP, Walton said the Democratic Republic of Congo is the "biggest weakness." According to HMG assessments, mining in the DRC has decreased by 80 percent with the renewed conflict in the East, but the DRC's diamond exports have increased over 100 percent. Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Unit ed_Kingdom TUTTLE