After months (nay, years) of saying nowt, Naomi Campbell has spoken out about the (I'm guessing she thought they were small) stones former Liberian President Charles Taylor (allegedly) gave her in 1997.
Speaking at his war crime trial this morning, she chose to bouffant herself up for the event, despite insisting on a ruling banning photos of her entering and exiting the court.
I watched a bit of it on SKY, but it was like watching very pretty paint dry. If you so wish, you can follow a blow by blow account of what's happening on Skynews.com. If you so wish... otherwise, here's synopsis of the revelvant bits:
"The 40-year-old is giving evidence in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Hague. The supermodel said she received the present - she assumed from Taylor - after a 1997 dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela. "When I was sleeping I had a knock at my door and I opened my door and two men were there and gave me a pouch and said: 'A gift for you',' she said. Campbell said she left the pouch next to her bed, went back to bed and opened it the next morning. 'I saw a few stones in there. Very small, dirty-looking stones,' she said. 'There was no explanation, no note.' At breakfast that morning, she told her then modelling agent Carole White and actress Mia Farrow about the gift. 'One of the two said that is obviously Charles Taylor and I said: 'Yes, I guess it was'.' She said she had given the stones to a colleague and added: 'Once I handed them over... it was out of my hands.' The model added that she had not wanted to attend the hearing and that she feared giving evidence would put her family at risk. I don't want to be here. I was made to be here...This is an inconvenience to me'."
Diddums. Imagine how inconvenient it was for the families that encountered murder, rape, mutilation and child soldiering under his rule.
Sky continue: "He is also accused of selling diamonds to buy weapons for rebel fighters in Sierra Leone's civil war in which hundreds of thousands of people died and many were left with horrific injuries. The sale of blood diamonds is thought to have sustained the war for many years. It is thought Campbell's evidence could be crucial, because she could prove that he owned rough or uncut diamonds, which is something he has always denied."
Additional reporting from The Sun is as follows: "Despite believing the stones were a gift from Taylor, Campbell said she had no intention of thanking him. She said: 'I had no way of contacting him and I had no intention of contacting him.' She said she had given the stones to a colleague and added: 'Once I handed them over... it was out of my hands.' Campbell said the stones were 'very small' but could not offer any further detailed explanation of them. 'I'm not a diamonds expert but they were very small,' she said. She arrived at the courthouse in The Hague surrounded by police officers. She did not speak to reporters outside. Asked what she thought the gift was, she said: 'They were dirty-looking pebbles. I'm used to seeing diamonds, shiny and in a box'."
I'll give her a box in a minute.
