Congo: Exit, King of Diamonds

Katanga's Moise Tshombe is not the only secessionist to break off a piece of the Congo and call it his own. He is merely the richest. In the backcountry, other little fiefs have declared themselves inde pendent in defiance of central government authority. Zaniest of all is ludicrous little Mining State in South Kasai.

Like "independent" Katanga, Mining State was the virtual creation of Belgium's powerful Societe Generale, which, through a company called Forminiere, for years held the concession to mine the world's biggest source of industrial diamonds. After independence came in 1960, the Belgians put their weight behind an...

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