2010 investing trends
WikiLeaks Uncovers Big Payoffs To The President Of Zimbabwe
Dec 13th
Washington, D.C.—Confidential U.S. government documents recently leaked through controversial news source WikiLeaks show that U.S. diplomats suspected Zimbabwe’s president, his family and top
associates were profiting from the sale of “blood” diamonds from the nation’s controversial Marange fields.
According to cables released by WikiLeaks and reported by United Press International (UPI), sources in Zimbabwe told the United States that Gideon Gono, head of Zimbabwe’s central bank, made thousands of dollars a month selling diamonds from Marange and funneled the money to Robert Mugabe, his wife, his sister and top members of the Zanu-PF party. Diamond panners in the area were attacked with dogs and gunned down from helicopters, with a 2008 cable released by WikiLeaks titled, “Regime Elites Looting Deadly Diamond Fields.”
A cable also stated that, “In a country filled with corrupt schemes, the diamond business in Zimbabwe is one of the dirtiest.”
Trade in rough diamonds from the Marange fields technically remains suspended as the Zimbabwean government and members of the Kimberley Process (KP), the body charged with stemming the flow of “blood” or “conflict” diamonds into the industry, try to hammer out an agreement for trade from the area to resume. 
Australian Julian Assange launched WikiLeaks, a non-profit media organization, in 2007. Since late November, the site has been publishing thousands of confidential U.S. diplomatic cables that have embarrassed U.S. officials and led to a government crackdown on the site.
Site founder Assange is in police custody in Britain after Sweden issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with sex crimes in that country. He has denied the allegations.
On Monday, Reuters reported that Assange’s former deputy, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, was starting another WikiLeaks rival site called OpenLeaks.org. The site is not yet operational.
| Print article | This entry was posted by maddaloni on December 13, 2010 at 8:04 pm, and is filed under 2010 investing trends, African Zimbabwean Diamonds, Blood Diamonds, Diamonds. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
Diamond Investment Trend: Marange Diamond Mine
Dec 12th
Contention mounts in the African Nation of Zimbabwe, over the Marange area , where the diamond mine’s conitnue to produce millions of rough diamonds. Since 2006 President Mugabe has been threatening to flood the diamond market with his potential ‘conflict’ rough diamonds. The last word out of Zimbabwe on September 21st 2010, President Mugabe’s was negotiating a 100 million dollar per month rough diamond contract to supply the Indian diamond market. News today, the Kimberly Process (KP) Chair Boaz Hirsch, directed the Indian government that no trade in diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange fields will be allowed under the Joint Work Plan (JWP) until an agreement can be reached.
An office memorandum sent to India’s Customs Department and the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) by the Commerce Department of India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, notes that Hirsch has requested participant countries to be vigilant and to notify him or the KP’s Working Group on Monitoring (WGM) if any “irregular” shipments of Marange diamonds are received.
The diamond industry continues to scrutinize Mugabe’s intentions for his countries natural resource, while wholesaler and retailers, globally, watch prices rise and supply wither in the diamond industry.
| Print article | This entry was posted by maddaloni on December 12, 2010 at 10:12 pm, and is filed under 2010 investing trends, Diamonds, Finance, Financial Crisis, Financial Movement, Long Island Jewelry, bridal jewelry, maddaloni. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
