Zimbabwe's government reportedly stole $2 billion worth of diamonds

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe – At least $2 billion worth of diamonds have been stolen from Zimbabwe's eastern diamond fields and have enriched President Robert Mugabe's ruling circle, international gem dealers and criminals, according to an organization leading the campaign against conflict diamonds.

Zimbabwe's Marange fields have seen "the biggest plunder of diamonds since Cecil Rhodes," the colonial magnate who exploited South Africa's Kimberley diamonds a century ago, charged Partnership Africa Canada, a member of the Kimberley Process, the world regulatory body on the diamond trade.

Zimbabwe's eastern Marange field — one of the world's biggest diamond deposits — has been mined since 2006 and its vast earnings could have turned around Zimbabwe's economy, battered by years of meltdown and political turmoil, the group said. But funds from the diamond sales have not showed up in the state treasury. Instead there is evidence that millions have gone to Mugabe's cronies.

The report, released Monday to coincide with the Zimbabwe government's conference on the diamond trade here in Victoria Falls, casts a shadow over the Mugabe regime's effort to win international respectability for its gem trade. Government officials at the conference denied the report's allegations as "totally false."

Mugabe pledged that Zimbabwe will soon have new law to ensure greater transparency and accountability in order to boost the "international reputation of our diamonds." Opening the conference, Mugabe said his government is committed to observing "international laws on diamond mining, storage and trading."

The report condemns the Mugabe government's control of the Marange diamond fields which have made Zimbabwe a major player in the international diamond trade.

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Diamonds are a dictator's best friend.