Campbell's diamonds surface in South Africa

The charity official who model Naomi Campbell gave her alleged blood diamonds to said today he had passed them to police in South Africa.

Campbell told the war crimes trial of former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor yesterday that she had received the diamonds as a present after meeting Taylor in South Africa, but gave them to Jeremy Ratcliffe to hand on to charity.

Ratcliffe today admitted he had “just kept” the three small uncut stones until recently after telling Campbell it might be illegal to export them.

Ratcliffe also said he would be a witness at Taylor’s trial at the International Court at The Hague.

Campbell told the court she gave the stones to South African-based Ratcliffe in 1997 hoping they could benefit a good cause. He was director of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund at the time.

Ratcliffe said he did not tell the fund about the stones.