Thieves steal diamonds worth $2.6 million

Diamonds worth $2.6 million dollars have been stolen from the safe of a Namibian polishing company partly owned by diamond giant De Beers, an official says.

Polished and unpolished diamonds were stolen from a safe at NamGem, a subsidiary of the Namdeb diamond company, a joint venture of the Namibian government and De Beers, said NamGem chairman Kennedy Hamutenya.

Hamutenya, who is also Namibia's diamond commissioner, said the theft appeared to be an inside job. "Nobody broke into the safe where the diamonds were stored and it is assumed it might have been an inside job," he said.

The theft occurred at NamGem's offices in Okahandja, some 70km north of the capital, Windhoek.

Diamond exports are still rebounding from the global economic crisis last year, which slashed Namdeb's revenue by 40 percent. Namdeb now says diamond production more than doubled in the first six months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.