Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naomi Campbell tells war crimes tribunal of diamonds gift

Naomi Campbell tells war crimes tribunal of diamonds gift

Naomi Campbell says she received 'dirty looking' stones that she was
later told must be diamonds from Charles Taylor

Lizzy Davies in the Hague and Matthew Weaver
Friday August 6 2010
guardian.co.uk


http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/05/naomi-campbell-liberia


The supermodel Naomi Campbell appeared before a war crimes tribunal in
the Hague today where she admitted receiving "dirty-looking" diamonds
that she was later told came from the former Liberian ruler Charles
Taylor.

Campbell told the court that she talked to Taylor at a charity dinner
hosted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa in September 1997. She denied
flirting with Taylor or sitting next to him at the dinner, and said
she had never heard of Liberia at the time, the tribunal heard.

Campbell described how she was woken in the middle of the night after
the dinner by two men at her door. She said they offered her a pouch
and said it was a gift for her with no further explanation.

At breakfast the following day, she said, either the actor Mia Farrow
or Campbell's former agent Carole White had told her the rocks must be
diamonds and were probably a gift from Taylor.

Prosecutors say the story, if true, would provide evidence that Taylor
traded guns to neighbouring Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for uncut
diamonds, sometimes known as blood diamonds, during that country's
1992-2002 civil war.

Campbell said she gave the "dirty looking stones" to a friend, Jeremy
Ratcliffe, who at the time was the director of Mandela's children's
charity. She asked him to "do something good with them".

A letter from the charity was read out in court "categorically"
denying that it had received diamonds from Campbell. She said
Ratcliffe had told her lawyers that he still had the diamonds, the
tribunal heard.

Contacted by telephone today, Ratcliffe was not prepared to discuss
the trial or Campbell's accusation that he still had the diamonds in
his possession, saying: "The matter is sub judice and I'm not prepared
to comment."

Asked about the Children's Fund's denial, he said: "The Children's
Fund is correct."

Dressed in a cream outfit, Campbell said she was reluctant to appear
before the court because of the "inconvenience" and safety concerns.
She resisted the prosecution's entreaties to give evidence until she
was issued last month with a subpoena. "I don't want my family in
danger in any way," she said. She described how she had read on the
internet that Taylor had supposedly "killed thousands of people".

Taylor, the first former African leader to be tried in an
international war crimes court, is accused of arming rebels in
neighbouring Sierra Leone in return for diamonds. He denies the
allegations and looked on impassively as Campbell spoke.

The supermodel's testimony contradicts media interviews on the
subject. Asked earlier this year by ABC News about claims made to the
court by Farrow and White, she said: "I did not receive a diamond and
I'm not going to speak about that thank you very much." Moments later,
when pressed on the issue, she walked off set, apparently hitting a
camera as she went.

At a later date, speaking on Oprah Winfrey's chatshow, the famously
truculent Campbell refused to comment further, saying simply: "I don't
want to be involved in this man's case ? he has done some terrible
things and I don't want to put my family in danger."

According to Farrow, who was one of several high-profile guests at
Mandela's now infamous Cape Town dinner party, Campbell had said over
breakfast the next morning that she had "an unforgettable story" to
tell. "She told us ? she had been awakened in the night by knocking at
her door. She opened the door to find two or three men ? I do not
recall how many ? who presented her with a large diamond which they
said was from Charles Taylor," Farrow said.

This version of events is largely supported by evidence given by
White, who said she heard the African leader say he wanted to give
Campbell some diamonds. Both women are due to testify in the special
court for Sierra Leone next week.

Campbell said she was no longer talking to either White or Farrow.

Taylor has asserted that he never had any of the gems in his
possession and that he does not, as he told the court, "have any real
experience with the diamond business".

The prosecution accuses Taylor, now 62, of obtaining illegally mined
diamonds in Sierra Leone from Revolutionary United Front rebels,
smuggling them over the border in "mayonnaise jars" and arming the
rebels in return. The former West African "big man" would thus have
played a central role in perpetuating a war that cost tens of
thousands of lives and caused countless atrocities, the prosecution
says.

It argues that the diamond allegedly given to Campbell was likely to
have been part of a batch obtained by Taylor from the war-torn country
and taken to South Africa for sale or exchange for arms. There is no
suggestion that Campbell would have known that.

Along with the claims of his midnight gift to Campbell, Taylor denies
all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including
murder, rape and cannibalism.


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