Recent news reports about Swat militants taking over the emerald mines in the area are very disturbing. One also gets an insight into the psyche of these militants, though. The militants were never interested in the emeralds of the valley before the latest peace deal. Perhaps they have now lost their funding and are making this sort of advances in trying to find new sources for funding their operations. That is too bad, though, because once they have learned to make money from the emerald booty, they will be able to acquire unlimited funds for their activities. This may also be the point from where slave labour camps like the ones in the African 'blood-diamonds' region, will start appearing in Swat. -SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER, Peshawar, via e-mail, April 2.