Diamond Geezers!

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A Diamond... as displayed in Tony Blair's Millennium Dome by South African company De Beers. The 'Millenium Jewels' recently targeted by a South London gang were valued at £350 million. The raid failed after the blaggers were grassed up by someone who sensibly thought the ten percent reward was a safer bet.

But who valued the gems at £350M? De Beers of course. And they should know what they are talking about. By buying up most of the world's diamonds, stockpiling them, then releasing them onto the market in limited quantities, the company is able to pretend they are in short supply and, therefore, extremely valuable. This scam is even more outrageous than the recent attempted blagging and does much for De Beers' profits. It does little for the people of Africa (including Sierra Leone) from where much of the world stock originates.
A Diamond Geezer... Reggie Kray who, after his recent death, was described by former associate 'Mad' Frankie Fraser as "a diamond geezer". With his brothers Ronnie and Charlie, Reggie ran a notorious gang of thugs in East London during the 1960s. If you could have fractions of IQ, they would have had less than three between them. They were never classy enough to be involved in a diamond heist and probably thought that Sierra Leone was an over-the-hill nightclub singer.
A 22-Carat Diamond Geezer... Brigadier David Richards, British Army and Joint Force Commander, Sierra Leone. Famed for remarking in a TV interview that: "I'm not the sort of chap who would wish anyone dead, but in the case of Foday Sankoh, I am prepared to make an exception." Sankoh was leader of the RUF, a drug-crazed group notorious for hacking off children's arms with machetes.

After a tour of duty earlier this year, Richards is now back in Sierra Leone. Is he planning the imminent armed take-over of the country's diamond mines, currently under the control of the RUF? (The rebel force trades the diamonds for weapons via Liberia.)

The Observer of 12 November "grassed up" the Brits' planned diamond heist but OffMSG is still putting its money on a British-trained Sierra Leone Army brigade, two UK land battle-groups and the SAS putting the RUF permanently out of business. The only down-side would be if the diamonds fell into the hands of De Beers instead of the legitimate Sierra Leone government.