Mugabe and family loot blood gems

Top Zimbabwean generals, government Ministers and close relatives of President Robert Mugabe have made millions of dollars from the illegal smuggling of 'blood diamonds', a US diamond executive has claimed.

In a series of extraordinary encounters with the diamond dealer last year, senior Zimbabwean officials, including the President's nephew, Innocent Mugabe, offered for sale gems looted by Zimbabwean forces fighting in the Congolese civil war.

The allegations by John Marsischky, who runs the American-based diamond firm Flashes of Color, cast a spotlight for the first time on the vast smuggling network of blood diamonds at the highest levels of Mugabe's regime. It portrays a government engaged in plundering a neighbouring country and a shady world of contraband and backhanders involving some of the most valuable gems in the world.

Marsischky's account also accuses controversial Canadian lobbying firm Dickens and Madson, which recently released a video claiming Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai plotted to kill Mugabe, of also being involved in diamond smuggling. The firm is headed by former senior Israeli secret service agent Ari Ben Menashe. Marsischky alleges that Dickens and Madson ran security checks on him and were to arrange bank accounts to pay for illegal stones.

Campaigners against blood diamonds have demanded an inquiry into Marsischky's claims, saying gem smuggling has fuelled conflicts around the world and gems are often swapped for arms. 'This warrants further investigation. Once again the diamond industry is being used as a source of conflict in both Congo and Zimbabwe,' said a spokesman for charity Global Witness , which has investigated the blood diamond trade.

It is thought that blood diamonds are worth about $300 million (£211.5m) a year, making up 4 per cent of the global diamond industry. Zimbabwe has become a recent focus of the trade because of its involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where its army backed the government of late President Laurent Kabila and were rewarded with lucrative mineral concessions.

Marsischky alleges he met numerous Zimbabwean officials, two representatives of Dickens and Madson and a local businessman called Bob Codrington, who tried to sell him smuggled diamonds on behalf of a network of top Zimbabwean public figures. Codrington and Menashe have dismissed Marsischky's story. 'We have never dealt in diamonds,' Menashe said, adding that he did not know Codrington and that his firm did not carry out security vetting. Codrington, who owns a firm that supplies mining equipment to Congo said he met Marsischky but they did not discuss selling him diamonds. 'I am not in the diamond trade,' he said.

Marsischky says he is telling the truth. 'I stand completely by my story. Not only were they trying to sell me blood diamonds, but they were fully aware they were blood diamonds,' he said.

Opposition sources in Zimbabwe agreed with his account. Officials with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which is fighting elections in just over a week, say that Mugabe's government has systematically looted large areas of Congo and drained its wealth to line its own pockets. 'It is not about civil war, it is all about profits,' an MDC source declared.

Marsischky arrived in Harare on 16 January last year with his wife and business partner Alisa Ballestra and booked into the city's Monomotapa hotel. They had been invited to the country by officials of the state-controlled Minerals Business Company, which operates legitimate dia mond concessions in Congo. At first they were offered a Zimbabwean military flight to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. However, the assassination of Kabila on 17 January scuppered the trip and instead they were told officials would meet them in Harare to discuss diamond deals. Over the next 10 days no legitimate diamonds were ever offered. Instead, Marsischky says, blood diamonds were put up for sale.

The first contact was with the head of the Zimbabwe Air Force, General Perence Shiri, who spoke to Marsischky twice on the phone and told him he had a parcel of more than 2,000 carats of rough diamonds available for sale. Shiri was commander of the notorious Fifth Brigade, which massacred thousands of Zimbabwean civilians in a crackdown in the early 1980s. He wanted $400,000 for the gems, which came with no certificates of origin or export documents. When Marsischky said he would not be able to take the diamonds out of the country without proper papers, Shiri replied: 'Surely there must be some other way. Other people do it.'

The next series of contacts was with Mugabe's nephew, Innocent, a high-ranking officer in the feared Central Intelligence Organisation. Innocent approached Marsischky and his wife in their hotel on 22 January and told them their credentials were to be checked out for a diamond sale. After the checks, Innocent arranged to meet Marsischky at the home of his mother, Sabina - Mugabe's elder sister - where a parcel of diamonds was waiting to be inspected. Marsischky claims that when he asked if the correct documentation would be available he was told it would be forwarded to the US after the diamonds had left the country. Marsischky refused to come to the viewing.

The Zimbabwean government has not responded to questions put by The Observer to confirm these details. Innocent Mugabe died in a road accident last summer.

After the deal fell through, a third series of contacts occurred involving Bob Codrington, who told Marsischky he represented private diamond-selling networks for Zimbabwe army chief General Vitalis Zvinavashe, and the Speaker of parliament, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Marsischky met Codrington on 24 January, when he says Codrington offered to supply diamonds from Congo but with South African documentation. Marsischky refused the deal and decided to leave the country the next day. 'We were convinced none of this material had proper export documents or certificates of origination,' Marsischky said.

Codrington phoned Marsischky when he was in a taxi on his way to the airport, offering several hundred carats worth of gems that would be available in a week. Marsischky did not accept the offer.

Codrington, however, insists he never discussed selling any diamonds to Marsischky.

Marsischky's account also implicates Dickens and Madson in diamond smuggling. At the meeting with Innocent Mugabe, Marsischky was told employees from the Canadian firm would visit the couple's hotel room to run security checks on them. Later two men, who identified themselves as from the company, arrived. 'They looked threatening,' Marsischky said. The men spent about 45 minutes with the pair and quizzed them about their interests in the diamond business. They passed the test.

Marsischky also alleged that Dickens and Madson's interests went further. Codrington allegedly told Marsischky at their meeting that the money transfers to seal the deal would be conducted with the aid of the firm.

Menashe has denied the allegations. 'We are active in Africa, but we don't do diamonds,' he said. But it is not the first time he has been involved in controversy. The firm has been at the centre of bitter political fighting over its issuing of a video tape purporting to show Tsvangirai talking about assassinating President Mugabe. The tape was dismissed by the MDC as a forgery and Tsvangirai is suing the Australian television channel that broadcast it.

Menashe also sold false stories to reporters about Israel's atomic bomb and claimed in a book that he saw then US Vice-President George Bush meet secretly with Iranian officials in Paris on 19 October, 1980. At the time Bush was in Washington.

Marsischky's account depicts corruption at the heart of Zimbabwe's government. It is a murky world of clandestine meetings, of millions of dollars changing hands and of Congo being looted by its supposed ally. It is also a world of danger. Marsischky believes that by going public with his allegations his life may be at risk. 'Blood diamonds are a very dangerous business,' he said.

Marsischky says he has come forward now because of a fear that Mugabe would try to fix next week's elections. 'We have not come forward before now, as we hoped the elections would be fair enough for a change of leadership. This seems to be slipping away now,' he said.

Opposition sources in Zimbabwe agreed with his account. Officials with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which is fighting elections in just over a week, say that Mugabe's government has systematically looted large areas of Congo and drained its wealth to line its own pockets. 'It is not about civil war, it is all about profits,' an MDC source declared.

Wed Apr 3, 2002 2:18 PM ET Africa Seeks Rwanda, Zimbabwe Pullout From Congo - By Manoah Esipisu [Excerpt] LUSAKA (Reuters) - African leaders meeting here to kickstart peace talks in the Democratic Republic of Congo put pressure on Rwanda and Zimbabwe to withdraw their armies from the country, diplomats said Wednesday. Six African states have troops in the war dubbed Africa's World War I, of which Zimbabwe and Rwanda have the biggest deployments, diplomats said. They said Rwanda had over 20,000 troops in the Congo and there were about 15,000 Zimbabwe troops there. Diplomats said a firm commitment was needed from Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to implement a peace deal. "The key issue here is an agreement on a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign armies. Rwanda and Zimbabwe are at the center of this," an African ambassador at the talks told Reuters.

The summit in the Zambian capital comes a day after the latest setback to ongoing peace negotiations in the South African resort of Sun City. Rwandan-backed rebels threatened on Tuesday to resume war over a dispute with the government over a town in eastern Congo. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy Namanga Ngongi told a plenary session of the summit in Lusaka that the world body would like to see an accelerated withdrawal of foreign armies. "Namibia has withdrawn all its troops, Angola has withdrawn most of its forces and Uganda has carried out large-scale withdrawals," Ngongi told the summit. "Rwanda says it has withdrawn some troops but there has been no verification by the United Nations. Zimbabwe has also withdrawn some troops. What we want is an acceleration of this process," Ngongi added. Diplomats said Angola, Burundi and Uganda had indicated they would be ready to complete a pullout from Congo without conditions. Rwanda, a victim of a 1994 genocide, wants border security and guarantees that Congo will not be used to attack it. Zimbabwe refuses to pull out, saying it is there to protect Congo's sovereignty. [End Excerpt]

After the checks, Innocent (Mugabe) arranged to meet Marsischky at the home of his mother, Sabina - Mugabe's elder sister - where a parcel of diamonds was waiting to be inspected. Marsischky claims that when he asked if the correct documentation would be available he was told it would be forwarded to the US after the diamonds had left the country. Marsischky refused to come to the viewing.

Zimbabwe -- Mugabe's sister wanted victim's house*****'GIVE me the house and furniture' Sabina Mugabe told farmer who was later shot. Fred Bridgland in Johannesburg and Philip Sherwell in Harare report Sabina Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president's oldest sister, wanted property on the farm of Terry Ford, killed by settlers last week, for herself, according to local farmers and the country's Commercial Farmers Union. Miss Mugabe, the Zanu-PF MP for Zvimba South, Robert Mugabe's home area, and Agness Rusike, a leader of the so-called war veterans, united to lead a terror campaign against white farmers and their workers in Mr Ford's area of Norton 16 months ago.****

Zimbabwe -- NGOs seek help as political refugees swell to 50,000 ****Solutions suggested to international agencies include the establishment of a tented "city" in Harare, where most displaced people have fled to, and the provision of food and other necessities.

NGOs yesterday made submissions detailing the extent of the internal refugee problem and the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis brewing in Zimbabwe, where over 70,000 were estimated to have fled their homes between January 2001 and February 2002 because of violence blamed on ruling ZANU PF supporters.

The number of internal refugees has swelled in the aftermath of last month's disputed presidential poll, which has been followed by a campaign of retribution by ZANU PF militia against members and perceived supporters of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).****

British Officials Report Assets Frozen of Zimbabwe's Re-elected President Mugabe**** Mar 31, 2002 (Sunday Business - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Millions of dollars secretly deposited in the offshore financial haven of the Turks & Caicos by Zimbabwe's recently re-elected president, Robert Mugabe, have been frozen, according to British intelligence sources.

He has used accounts in the Caribbean islands to store funds from his Isle of Man-based Eagle Investments through which much of his wealth is concentrated. Last month the European Union and the US froze the assets of Mugabe and his associates and placed an arms embargo on Zimbabwe. But the Turks & Caicos are British territories and do not fall under EU jurisdiction.****

Gadaafi to supply Mugabe with death squads?****Relations between Mugabe and Gadaafi have been warm for some time but it is only in the last year, as Zimbabwe's shortage of foreign exchange has caused repeated fuel cut-offs that Mugabe has several times flown to Tripoli to plead with Gadaafi for deliveries on credit. Gadaafi, who has despaired of his efforts to play a leadership role in the Arab world, has begun to use his financial muscle to make interventions right across black Africa where he has made Zimbabwe a special case, advancing Mugabe a loan of $100 million.……More sinister is the fact that Gadaafi insisted on calling into conclave Harare's small community of Indian Muslims, telling them that they must assist Mugabe's plans by declaring a jihad (holy war) to throw the whites out. If they did not do this, he told the Muslim elders, he would bring in strong arm men from the Pagad movement in Cape Town with which he had close links. There has long been speculation that Gadaafi might have links to Pagad, an extremist Muslim vigilante movement often linked to bombings and murders in the Cape, including bomb attacks on US-linked enterprises such as the Planet Hollywood restaurant on the Cape waterfront, but this is the first open confirmation of the fact.

The bulk of Harare's Muslim community, consisting largely of merchants and professionals, was aghast at this demand and has failed to declare a jihad ,a failure which they believe lies behind the sudden spate of attacks on Muslim shops by Zanu-PF youths in the last ten days. For heaven's sake, said one Muslim merchant, we all do business with whites all the time. We rely on them and most of us are appalled by what Mugabe's doing. It's obvious that those youths who were sent to attack white and Muslim shops were meant to be punishing us for not complying. However, Gadaafi - like Mugabe a virtual paranoiac in matters of personal security - had also left behind two extra bodyguards for Mugabe and four specialist coordinators. These men are believed to have experience in the training and handling of death squads and they have, in the last month, bought up 20 houses right around Zimbabwe to act as safe houses for the squads. The houses are strategically scattered only four are in Harare and there is one in every regional town or centre of any size. ****

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