NWT Premier Wants Share Of Diamond Royalties, Criticizes DB
September 10, 03
Northwest Territories Premier Stephen Kakfwi met yesterday (Tuesday) with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien during a series of meetings aimed at supporting the NWT diamond industry.
Kakfwi met with Prime Minister Jean Chretien, hoping to lend a deal that will award the Territories with a share of royalties from diamonds mined in the region. 
Premier Kakfwi
However a comment he made during an interview with The Globe and Mail in New York on Monday caused a hullabaloo. Premier Kakfwi is quoted saying, “De Beers does not want to identify the source of its diamonds because a huge portion comes from countries of dubious character”, which was quickly interpreted as an accusation of selling conflict diamonds.
In response to his comments a De Beers spokesperson says, "The comments Premier Kakfwi made are factually incorrect. This is borne out by the positive comments by others in the industry that are also contained in the [The Globe and Mail] article."
De Beers is currently in a licensing and permits stage to allow it to mine in Snap Lake in the NWT.