Last updated: 11 august, 2010 - 14:35 GMT
Zimbabwe resumes diamond exports
There were reports of forced labour in the Marange diamond fields
Diamonds have a long history of fuelling violence and conflict in many parts of Africa.
In Zimbabwe, there have been long-standing allegations of human rights abuses and corrupt practices after a large quantity of diamonds was discovered at the Marange fields in the east of the country.
Last year, those allegations led to a ban on diamond exports from Zimbabwe.
However, sales have now resumed after the Kimberley Process, which overseas the diamond trade, decided conditions had improved.
Stephen Chan is the author of several books on Zimbabwe and a professor of international relations at London University.
He spoke to Newshour's James Menendez from Harare.
To play this content JavaScript must be turned on and the latest Flash player installed.
First broadcast 11 August 2010
related bbc links
~RS~a~RS~worldservice~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~42~RS~){kind=small}
bbc.co.uk navigation
BBC links
BBC © 2012 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.