Naomi Campbell flirted with Taylor, world court told

Author: 
Agencies
Publication Date: 
Thu, 2010-08-12 00:05

Carole White's testimony contradicts the British model's statements at the Sierra Leone Special Tribunal. Campbell downplayed her contact with Taylor, saying she received an unexpected gift of "dirty looking" pebbles the night after the dinner. She told judges Friday she did not initially realize they were diamonds or who sent them.
Campbell's former agent is denying fabricating her testimony that the model acknowledged receiving diamonds from former Taylor, who is on trial for war crimes. White says she was present in 1997 when Campbell told the man who headed the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund the diamonds came from Taylor.
Campbell testified earlier she did not know the source or value of the stones she received. Taylor's lawyer Courtenay Griffiths accused White of lying to help her case against her former client, whom she is suing for millions of dollars. White told the court Tuesday her account was true.
 

Campbell, 40, said she had nothing to gain from being untruthful in her testimony about alleged "blood diamonds" and said suggestions she did not care about suffering in Africa were hurtful.
In a statement issued five days after testifying in The Hague at the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, Campbell described herself as "a black woman who has and will always support good causes, especially relating to Africa."
"I've no motive here. Nothing to gain," she said.
Testimony on Monday by actress Mia Farrow and model agent Carole White, who were also at the dinner, contradicted parts of her evidence.
"Naomi Campbell was in South Africa helping a charity, had the diamonds for a matter of hours and handed them over to a representative of Nelson Mandela's children's charity.
"She was not on trial in The Hague and was as helpful toward the court as she could be," the statement said.
Campbell was summoned by prosecutors to support their allegations that Taylor received blood diamonds from rebels in Sierra Leone and used them to buy weapons. He denies 11 counts, including rape, sexual slavery and the conscription of child soldiers during wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The statement, issued via a London-based PR agency, said Campbell had a long commitment to supporting good causes, especially in Africa.
"The suggestion that Campbell in some way doesn't care about the plight of those suffering in Africa is ridiculous and hurtful," it said.

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