Zimbabwe government stealing diamond funds: Report

VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe (AP) ? A leading diamond trade watchdog charges that $2 billion worth of diamonds have been stolen from Zimbabwe's eastern diamond fields and have enriched President Robert Mugabe's ruling circle and international gem dealers.

Partnership Africa Canada ? a member of the Kimberley Process, the world regulatory body on the diamond trade ? issued a report Monday that alleges Zimbabwe's Marange fields have been plundered by the Mugabe regime.

The report said vast earnings from Zimbabwe's eastern Marange fields ? one of the world's biggest diamond deposits ? have not reached the state treasury. The PAC 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.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-12-AF-Zimbabwe-Diamonds-/id-51ed645d66924654910ea047276f1e86

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