Zimbabwe's Mines and Mining Development Ministry will not back the pending Kimberley Process agreement on the country's diamonds and will sell them with or without KP approval, Mines Minister Obert Mpofu told Voice of America on Friday.

According to a report on reliefweb.int, Mpofu said that the Zimbabwean government objected to language in the revised KP agreement – which only recently was approved by consensus – regarding human rights. Mpofu also reiterated his long-standing assertions that Zimbabwe has complied with KP demands.

Earlier this month, the Kimberley Process – now chaired by Matheiu Yamba of the Democratic Republic of Congo – denied widespread reports that Zimbabwe had received a green light to export rough diamonds from the Marange fields and informed all member nations that the international embargo remained in place, exhorting them to work together to find a solution to the issue. The World Diamond Council backed the KP communique.

Mpofu also denied recent charges by Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti that some $100 million in revenue from KP-authorized tenders of Marange diamonds never reached the Treasury. Biti is calling for an audit to trace the money.