Prosecutors at the
war crimes trial of Liberia's former President Charles Taylor have called a British supermodel
to the stand to testify. Larry Miller reports they are seeking to show that she
received so-called "blood diamonds" from Taylor who's accused of
selling or trading gems for weapons to bankroll the civil war in Sierra Leone.
Naomi Campbell told
the court that after a 1997 dinner party hosted by Nelson Mandela and attended
by Taylor, two men came to her door in the middle of the night with a pouch,
saying it was a gift. She said it contained a few small dirty-looking stones.
There was no note. She explained that the next morning the actress Mia Farrow
told her the rocks must be diamonds and were probably a gift from Taylor.
Campbell testified she
gave them to a friend who worked for the Nelson Mandela's Children's Fund.
However, in a letter presented to the court, the charity said it never received
diamonds from Campbell or from anyone else, adding it would have been improper
and illegal to have done so. |