The mystery of the whereabouts of supermodel Naomi Campbell’s so-called “blood diamonds” ended today with South African authorities saying they are now in possession of the uncut stones.
How they got them, depends on who you ask.
NAOMI CAMPBELL TESTIFIES AT BLOOD-DIAMOND TRIAL
The Daily Mail reported today that The Hawks, South Africa’s elite police investigation unit, seized the diamonds Tuesday from the home of Jeremy Ractliffe, the onetime director of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, and has launched a criminal investigation against him.
Campbell testified yetserday in the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor that she gave the pouch of “dirty-looking stones” to Ractliffe and asked him to do something charitable with them while they rode the luxury Blue Train between the South African capital of Pretoria and Cape Town, after attending a charity dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela.
Prosecutors in The Hague believe Taylor, a fellow guest, flirted with Campbell during the dinner and then had three men deliver the stones to her room as a gift.
But Ractliffe, who is still a trustee of the children’s charity, said in an e-mail statement today that he had “turned the diamonds over to South African authorities” and is “willing to testify before the war-crimes court,” making no mention of a criminal probe.
The statement went on to say that he told Campbell that he would “not involve the [Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund] in anything that could possibly be illegal,” which is why he decided to keep the diamonds, and tell no one, in an attempt to “protect the reputation of the NMCF, Mr. Mandela himself and Naomi Campbell, none of whom were benefiting in any way.”
Prosecutors are trying to make a direct link between Taylor, who is charged with 11 crimes against humanity including murder and rape in connection with Sierra Leone’s bloody civil war, and so-called “blood diamonds,” which they believe the African warlord traded to fund the violence.