Mutare, Zimbabwe - Senior Zimbabwean opposition politician Roy Bennett was freed on bail from a prison in the eastern city of Mutare Thursday, 27 days after his arrest on dubious terrorism charges.

The Movement for Democratic Change's Bennett left Mutare remand prison, around 300 kilometres from Harare, after the Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down the state's appeal against a lower court's ruling that he be granted bail.

MUTARE , Zimbabwe, Dec. 4  -- Among the many ills plaguing Zimbabwe, the one many consider Africa's nastiest ailment, diamond fever, has a firm, fearsome hold, officials say.

Sleepy towns such as Mutare in Zimbabwe's "wild east" have awakened to find their quiet streets rife with opportunists and black marketers, illegal miners, swaggering foreigners, gun-toting thugs and sudden death.

Diplomats, industry sources and others believe the Marange field could be one of the most significant diamond discoveries in decades, The Los Angeles Times reported.