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Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s wife has filed a $15 million lawsuit against Zimbabwe Standard, a Sunday weekly, after it published a story referring to WikiLeaks cables alleging her involvement in illegal diamond deals, the paper's CEO said Thursday.

Zimbabwe’s controversial Marange diamond field, located in the Chiadzwa ward, is under the microscope at this week’s Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in Jerusalem, Israel. Sale of the country’s precious gems are on hold until security and human rights in the diamond field have improved.

Mugabe had previously commented that “there are huge prospects for the diamond sub-sector to emerge as a major driver of the country's economic turnaround”, and has recently stressed that the greed of individual politicians must not play out.

Zimbabwe will be able to sell some of its diamond stockpiles under the terms of the deal. Following a review of worker conditions in the Marange diamond fields, Zimbabwe may be able to resume full exports by September.

Despite the Kimberley Process diamond certification scheme having not authorized international sales amid allegations of killings, human rights violations and corruption in the Eastern Zimbabwe diamond fields, Mugabe has said the diamond sales have "huge potential" to revive the economy.

“It's a very sobering situation, it's a very sad one indeed because the ruling party, the ruling clique within that party continues to benefit from aid, benefit from the diamond trade, benefit from corruption to a very significant degree,” Clinton said, stressing that “people are suffering”.

Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe has unleashed a blistering threat to defy the Kimberley Process to sell diamonds from a field where the global regulator accuses the army of forced labor. He said: “We are trying to play it their own way, that is following the KP, but we can do it otherwise.”