The dirty diamond trade

Six investigators from the Kimberley Process, the international organisation that monitors and certifies legitimate diamond trading, flew quietly into Harare last weekend. What they discover could rock Zimbabwe to its already wobbly foundations.

There are diamond mines across Zimbabwe, including a newly discovered field at Marange. But problems with exchange rates, licences and so on mean that a good proportion of Zimbabwe's gems are smuggled into South Africa and the wider world.

To some it might seem that the Zimbabwean government is cracking down hard on this illegal trade. It appears to be co-operating closely with the EC, which currently chairs the Kimberly Process. Arrests have been made. Two directors of