Deputy Mines Minister Murisi Zwizwai — a member of Tsvangirai's former opposition party — said the coalition government had "agreed to remove the soldiers, but it will be done in phases while proper security settings would be put in place," the Sunday Mail reported.

It is estimated the diamonds could be worth $200 million a month to the cash-strapped southern African nation, which is desperately trying to raise international aid to kickstart the economy. But the unity government has also been under foreign pressure to show signs of reform.

Withdrawing troops from the diamond fields would deflect further negative publicity, show the government's commitment to meeting international obligations and ensure greater revenue from the diamonds that are sold.

On June 26, the New York-based Human Rights Watch cited accounts from more than 100 witnesses, miners, police officers, soldiers and children alleging human rights abuses by troops.

It said its researchers had gathered evidence of mass graves and accounts of an incident last year when military helicopters fired on miners, while armed soldiers on the ground chased villagers away.

It said many victims were unwilling to come forward out of fear of the military.

Human Rights Watch also alleged that some of the income from the diamond fields went to officials of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, long accused of trampling on human rights and democracy in Zimbabwe.