A South African official has been chosen by the Kimberly Processes monitor in Zimbabwe's controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields.

South African Diamond Board chairperson Abbey Chikane has been selected to ensure that Zimababwe's diamond mining companies comply with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

According to the radio report, the Zimbabwean government refused a European monitor from Belgium.

Zimbabwe agreed to the appointment of a monitor after a meeting of the Kimberley Process, representatives of the world diamond trade and civil society bodies in November ruled that Chiadzwa diamonds could only be exported after being certified by a Kimberley Process-appointed monitor.

Reports of brutalities

The Kimberley Process laid down the condition after the organization received reports of brutal military control over the fields and rampant exploitation and smuggling from the alluvial find, estimated by experts to be the biggest in a century.

Sapa reported that the appointment of a monitor was blocked for four months by disputes between the the Kimberley Process and Harare over the names put forward by both sides.

By Staff reporter and agencies