London: Naomi Campbell has repeatedly denied allegations that she received a "blood diamond" from former Libyan president Charles Taylor but her ex-aide says the dictator gifted the supermodel six stones.
The 39-year-old runway beauty, who has repeatedly refused to talk about the diamonds, has been asked by officials to appear before the Special Court on July 29 to testify or "show good cause why" she cannot in the trial against Taylor, the Daily Mail reported.
The former president is accused of fuelling a civil war in Sierra Leone and is said to have provided arms to rebel soldiers in return for rough, uncut diamonds.
Campbell met Taylor while she attended Nelson Mandela`s Children`s Fund in South Africa in 1997 and the story goes that the dictator was so smitten by the supermodel that he gave her a large diamond as a token of his affection.
The catwalk queen, who is dating Russian billionaire property mogul Vladimir Doronin, says that she fears for the safety of her family if she gets involved.
However, Carole White, owner of Premier Model Management in London, who accompanied Campbell on the trip says the supermodel was given six uncut diamonds by Taylor.
"It came up over dinner. I was there. I heard it. Charles Taylor was there and Naomi was seated next to him and then there was the Minister of Defence from his country and I was seated next to him. Mia Farrow was opposite," said White.
"I was dealing with everything? How was she going to get them, because Taylor didn`t have them in his possession? I was asked by Taylor and Naomi and his Minister of Defence to organise letting his people, who were going to bring the diamonds from Johannesburg to Cape Town, into the guest compound where we were staying. The diamonds came that night. Everyone was asleep," she added.
The function was also attended by actress Mia Farrow, Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Michael Jackson`s producer Quincy Jones. White, along with Campbell and Mia Farrow, has been asked to give evidence in the case.
Farrow claims that Campbell blurted out the `unforgettable story` about the diamonds over breakfast the morning after their dinner at Mandela`s home.
"She said she was going to give it to President Mandela`s children`s charity and I thought no more about it," the actress added.
But Mandela Children`s Fund says no diamonds have ever been received from Campbell.
PTI
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