The model and the blood diamond

THE curious tale of the diamond that arrived in the night has returned to haunt supermodel Naomi Campbell, who is entangled in a web of allegations against Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president on trial at The Hague for crimes against humanity.

Despite denials from Taylor and Campbell that any diamond changed hands between them, the US ABC television network broadcast an interview with Mia Farrow, the American actress turned political activist, who contradicted the supermodel's recollection of events.

The two celebrities were visiting South Africa as guests of Nelson Mandela in 1997. Prosecutors at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague have claimed that Taylor was also in South Africa to buy weapons with so-called "blood diamonds" looted from Sierra Leone mines.

Farrow has told prosecutors of an unusual conversation she had with Campbell at breakfast in Cape Town. "She said during the night some men had knocked on her door and she, half asleep, had opened the door and it was representatives of President Charles Taylor and they had given her a huge diamond," Farrow said.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Taylor has dismissed accounts of the incident as "totally incorrect" and described as nonsense allegations he kept a pile of rough diamonds in a mayonnaise jar.

When the ABC attempted to question the British model during a visit to New York, Campbell replied: "I didn't receive a diamond and I'm not going to speak about that."

Yet Farrow insists her account is accurate.

"You don't forget when a girlfriend tells you she was given a huge diamond in the middle of the night," she said. Farrow has become a defender of Africans caught up in regional conflicts and believes Campbell should testify about her experience to help prosecutors link Taylor to the illegal diamond trade.

The actress recalled that Campbell told her she was going to give the diamond to Mandela's children's charities. According to ABC, the charity received large cash sums from Campbell in successive years, but it has no record of a donated diamond.

The Sunday Times
********************************************************
What are "blood diamonds" and how are they bad?

Reports say that Campbell hit a reporter asking questions about the diamond. Why do you think that Naomi Campbell reacted so violently?

When you purchase something, should you try to be aware of where it comes from and what or whom it supports?

Do you have certain products that you delberately choose to buy or NOT to buy because of your beliefs?
********************************************************