Iman Cuts De Beers Links in Ethics Row

Somalian model Iman is reported to have abruptly ended her contract with the diamond giant De Beers over a conflict of ethics.

Concerns that the corporation is exploiting the rights of the Bushmen of Botswana have prompted Iman, wife of singer David Bowie, to step down, the human rights organisation Survival International said yesterday.

The model, who showcased jewellery at the Cannes Film Festival last year at the diamond company's annual party, will not be travelling with them this year.

De Beers controls Botswana's diamond mining through a joint venture with the government. The company's desire to have full claims to the deposits under the Bushmen's land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve has led to the government decision to evict the Bushmen from their ancestral land, according to charges by Bushman organisations and human rights groups.

Iman criticised the forced relocations of the Bushmen in an interview last month. 'It was clear that the Bushmen were being destroyed - you take people from their element and you end up with Aids, drugs and alcohol in the guise of advancement,' she said.

Iman's spokesman at her cosmetics company in New York declined to comment on the Survival International announcement.