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The war crimes trial of former Liberian President and alleged warlord Charles Taylor at The Hague may shine with stars as well as blood diamonds, now that supermodel Naomi Campbell is unwittingly involved in the complex case. Actress Mia Farrow, a friend of Campbell’s who accompanied her to South Africa to a reception for then President Nelson Mandela in 1997, claims that Naomi Campbell told her over breakfast that she was awakened the previous evening by strange men and was given a huge rough diamond. The type of diamond Farrow said was given to Campbell was of the same variety that has since been outlawed, because they are used to trade weapons that fuel wars in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Angola. The diamond was allegedly presented to Campbell as a gift from Charles Taylor.
But Naomi Campbell isn’t talking. She firmly refused to speak about receiving the alleged “blood diamond” and even pushed a cameraman out of the way in desperate rush to avoid questions. The prosecution in the Taylor war crimes case was hoping Campbell would confirm Mia Farrow’s story, since it would strengthen their case that Taylor was in South Africa to secretly trade blood diamonds for weapons so he could fund his war atrocities. Campbell’s silence is perhaps out of a desire for self-preservation, as she naturally fears reprisals for her testimony.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/usarmyafrica/3751627185/
US Troops in war torn Liberia
Charles Taylor’s defense team is crying foul, and insists that the Naomi Campbell story is being brought out at a late point in the trial to create a publicity stunt designed to lessen sympathy for the defendant. However, deposed tyrant Charles Taylor hardly seems like a sympathetic character in the first place, since there is strong evidence that he encouraged murder and rape as war strategies as well as the drugging of child soldiers who were commanded to carry out the worst atrocities of the war.
Will Naomi Campbell finally speak? It’s hard to tell one way or the other, but Mia Farrow seems insistent that she heard the story about the late night visit and the extravagant gift right from the supermodel herself. In the meantime, Campbell is staying silent but is still defiantly strutting her stuff.
