Clinton: U.S. to Maintain Pressure on Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s Diamonds

Mugabe and a ruling clique benefit from the diamond trade while the people of Zimbabwe are suffering, according to Secretary Clinton (above)

In a statement that somewhat clarifies the U.S.’s position on diamond exports from Zimbabwe, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that President Robert Mugabe and a “ruling clique” is benefiting from diamonds while the people of Zimbabwe are suffering.

“It's a very sobering situation,” Clinton said in an answer to a question at a State Department seminar on Sub-Sahara Africa. “We are also looking to link democratic and economic performance by encouraging that the government be held accountable and working with those who are attempting to do so. But it’s a very sobering situation.”

"It's a very sad one indeed because the ruling party, the ruling clique within that party continues to benefit from aid, benefit from the diamond trade, benefit from corruption to a very significant degree," she said, adding "People are suffering.”

A State Department official told IDEX Online that the U.S. would like to find away that would allow the export of diamonds.

The U.S., according to Clinton, is "trying to walk a line between supporting the people, keeping the pressure on the Mugabe leadership, working with South Africa to try to get that message across."

“At the same time, the President just renewed sanctions against 220 individuals and entities associated with the Mugabe regime. So these are what we call targeted sanctions that go to whether they can travel, what kind of investments or bank accounts they can have that we can reach

“I'm not going to stand here and say we have some perfect formula, because it's extremely difficult to try to do what we're doing, and [make] a difference for the people of Zimbabwe, but we're going to persist in doing so."