London officials urged Harare over the weekend to comply with global diamond trade regulations, citing that otherwise, the smuggling of the precious stones from the controversial Marange diamond fields will continue.



Last week, Zimbabwe announced that it would soon start selling millions of carats of diamonds from the Marange area, despite their "conflict diamonds" status and regardless of Kimberley Process certification, or approval.

"I would urge the Zimbabwe government to do all it possibly can to become compliant with Kimberley and that will mean that we will get much more money coming into the Zimbabwe Exchequer," Britain's Africa Minister Henry Bellingham told media outlets.



Britain's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mark Canning, added that most high-grade diamonds from Marange were "going out of the back door."



Last week's Kimberley Process conference in Jerusalem failed to reach a conclusion on the matter, with Zimbabwean officials of and those representing the KPCS giving conflicting views on the outcome of a closed-door meetings.



KP Chairman Boaz Hirsch said no agreement had been reached on exports from Marange; while Harare's Obert Mpofu said there was an agreement for Zimbabwe to sell diamonds from Marange.



Zimbabwe is believed to have as much as 4.5 million carats of diamonds stockpiled for sale.