Naomi Campbell Admits Getting 'Blood Diamonds'
Supermodel Naomi Campbell reluctantly testified Thursday in the UN war crimes tribunal against former Liberian ruler Charles Taylor.
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Campbell took to the witness stand and admitted she received "dirty rocks" from Taylor, while she was attending a dinner party in South Africa in 1997. She said she then gave the diamonds to a colleague and asked that they "do something good with them," i.e., donate them to charity, but added the colleague "still has them, so they didn't benefit."
Taylor, 62, stands accused of arming, training and commanding rebels to kill and maim thousands of civilians in the 1992-2002 civil war, funded in part by uncut diamonds from neighboring Sierra Leone, known as "blood diamonds."
The British model did not want to have anything to do with the trial in fear of reprisal against her and her family, but was subpoenaed and forced to appear, especially after Mia Farrow's statement saying she saw Campbell receiving the diamonds. Farrow is set to testify next week, as well.
Campbell said in court, "I had never heard of Charles Taylor before. I had never heard of the country Liberia before. I had never the term 'blood diamonds' before ... This is someone who, I read on the Internet, has killed thousands of people. I don't want my family endangered in any way."
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