Africa - Diamonds

• On a continent ravaged by civil strife, "conflict" diamonds have financed the desperate efforts of rebel warlords.

•Teams of miners take 30 minute turns to pump up gravel,which may contain diamonds. But average pickings are meager - barely enough to pay for food. Most workers live on the illusion that one day a big stone will free them from misery

•Outside Oranjemund on the desolate Namibian coast, diamond hunters push back the sea with massive sand barriers. Behind this sea wall they've stripped away 60 vertical feet to expose bedrock and unearth diamonds washed down from Africa's interior over the past 100 million years.

•Tonnes of rock roar through conveyors at the Orapa mine in Botswana, run by industry giant De Beers. In 2000 the mine yielded 2.5 metric tons of diamonds. The plant is designed so that workers never touch a gem.

•In Namibia workers are x-rayed daily to check for concealed stones

•Bruce Mitchell, who dives for diamonds is searched on every voyage, as is his vessel