26 A section within the agreement states that the income from Marange diamonds mined by Anjin and Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) will be “placed in a special account for direct transfer to Beijing, without going through the treasury.” 106 During a meeting with one of President Mugabe’s most senior intelligence chiefs, the Daily Mail (UK) was told that there was “a memorandum of understanding between China and Zimbabwe – Beijing supplies weapons to us and we allow them to mine diamonds”. The arms were being handed out to the military in preparation for a brutal new crackdown against opponents, he was told. 107 14 AIRSTRIP BUILT IN CHIADZWA Arial photograph showing the early stages of the construction of Mbada’s airstrip at Chiadzwa At the end of November 2009, Mbada chairman Robert Mhlanga told a government taskforce visiting Marange that a private investigator was being sought to construct a runway for the diamond fields. He said this would allow diamonds from the area to be flown to Harare in a more secure condition. “We are also constructing a diamond handling facility at the Harare International airport….” he said. 108 106 The Zimbabwean, ‘Chiadzwa diamonds to pay Chinese spy centre loan as Zvoma misleads MPs’, 17 June 2011: http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/news/zimbabwe/50190/chiadzwa-diamonds-to-pay-chinese.html 107 The Daily Mail: “Robert Mugabe’s darkest secret”, 18 September 2010: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313123/Robert-Mugabes-darkest-secret-An-800bn-blood-diamondrun-Chinas-Red-Army.html 108 Zim Online, ‘Runway for Zim diamond field’, 25 November 2009: http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=5421