Charles Taylor 'gave Naomi Campbell diamonds'
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Ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor gave Naomi Campbell diamonds after a 1997 dinner in South Africa, the supermodel's former agent Carole White has told Mr Taylor's war-crimes trial.
She said Mr Taylor had promised the model the diamonds during the meal.
The account contradicts evidence given by Ms Campbell, who said she did not know who had given her the gems.
Prosecutors say Mr Taylor traded with rebels in Sierra Leone, giving them weapons in return for diamonds.
Tens of thousands of people died in interlinked conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia in the 1980s and 1990s.
Mr Taylor denies 11 charges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, sitting in The Hague, and he has denied having anything to do with the trade in so-called blood diamonds.
According to Ms White, Mr Taylor and Ms Campbell had been "mildly flirtatious" with each other at the 1997 dinner in South Africa, hosted by Nelson Mandela who was the country's president at the time.
Mr Taylor told the supermodel during dinner that he would send some men to give her diamonds, Ms White told the hearing.
"We were sitting around this lounge area at about 10 o'clock at night and we were waiting for these men to arrive," Ms White said.
"She was in communication with them by phone - most likely by text. Someone was informing her that the car was nearly there."
'Surprise gift'
Ms White said Ms Campbell was "very excited" about the diamonds.
"The guys came in and they sat down in the lounge and we sat opposite them... they then took out a quite scruffy paper and they handed it to Miss Campbell and said 'these are the diamonds'," she said.
Continue reading the main story 'Blood diamonds' Rough diamonds used by rebel groups to finance wars against governments
Fuelled conflicts in countries such as Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and DR Congo
The 2003 Kimberley Process requires its 49 members, who represent 75 countries, to certify shipments of rough diamonds as "conflict-free"
Critics question the system, saying countries with the worst wars have weak internal controls
"She opened them and showed them to me. They were quite disappointing because they weren't shiny."
Earlier on Monday, US actress Mia Farrow, who was at the dinner, had also testified that Ms Campbell had been excited by the gift.
Last week, Ms Campbell told the hearing that two men had come into her room in the middle of the night and given her a pouch of stones, and that she did not know who had given her the gift.
She told the court she had given the stones to Jeremy Ractliffe of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund the next morning because she wanted them to go to charity.
Mr Ractliffe has now handed the gems to police, and on Sunday they confirmed that the stones were real diamonds.
Mr Taylor, 62, was arrested in 2006 and his trial in opened in 2007.
The former warlord is accused of arming Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels during the 1991-2002 civil war - a charge he denies.
Prosecutors say that from his seat of power in Liberia, Mr Taylor also trained and commanded the rebels who murdered, raped and maimed Sierra Leone civilians, frequently hacking off their hands and legs.
The Sierra Leone war became notorious for the widespread use of child soldiers.
UN-backed court at The Hague to testify in a war crimes trial against Taylor.  Actress  and Carole White have testified in former-Liberian president Charles Taylor's war crimes trial at the  for Sierra Leone in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Farrow and White's testimonies contradict supermodel 's testimony from last week.

White said Campbell was "mildly flirtatious" with Taylor at a dinner in South Africa in 1997. Taylor, she alleged, told Campbell he would send her diamonds. White continued to say Campbell communicated with Taylor and awaited the diamond. Campbell was "very excited" about the diamonds according to White.

"Taylor's men came in and they sat down in the lounge and we sat opposite them... they then took out a quite scruffy paper and they handed it to Miss Campbell and said 'these are the diamonds.'"

Farrow claimed Campbell told her Taylor received diamonds in the middle of the night. She testified, "Campbell said that in the night she had been awakened, some men were knocking at the door, and they had been sent by Charles Taylor, and they had given her a huge diamond."

Last week in Campbell's testimony, she did not know who sent her diamonds, but testified her then-agent White told her who probably sent the diamonds. White and Farrow testified Campbell said the diamonds were from Taylor. She claims she gave the diamonds to Jeremy Ractliffe who gave them to police.

Police spokesperson Musa Zondi confirms Ractliffe had uncut diamonds. "Yes, they are real diamonds.  We cannot tell whether they are '' or not. That will be part of the investigation," Zondi said.

Taylor faces eleven counts for violating international law including, murder, rape, sexual slavery, enlistment of children under the age of fifteen, pillaging, enslavement, and "outrages upon personal dignity."

Taylor allegedly traded "blood diamonds" for weapons and supplying the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone with weapons during the . This war conscripted child soldiers, an international crime. The prosecutors for the Special Court say Taylor trained the rebels and had them rape, murder, mutilate, and decapitate the civilians of Sierra Leone. Over 100,000 people died in the Sierra Leonean civil war. Taylor plead not guilty to all charges.
 
Linking the blood diamonds, used to support the RUF, to Taylor is a high priority for the prosecution.