African warlord Charles Taylor is trying to block supermodel Naomi Campbell from testifying about "blood diamonds" that she allegedly received from him.
Defence lawyers for former Liberian president Taylor, who is on trial for war crimes in an international court, filed papers opposing the prosecution's request to subpoena Campbell to force her to testify about allegedly receiving a handful of uncut stones from representatives of Taylor after meeting Taylor during a 1997 trip to South Africa.
Prosecutors have said that Taylor used uncut "blood diamonds" to buy weapons and fuel a bloody insurgency in Sierra Leone that cost thousands of lives.
According to the prosecution, a gift of such diamonds goes to the heart of their case, since they believe Taylor was in South Africa at the time to buy guns with diamonds.
However, Campbell has denied receiving diamonds and has refused to testify.
Taylor is facing trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The trial, which is being held in the Netherlands, has been underway since 2006.
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