ICC wants to know about Charles Taylor Blood Diamonds to Naomi Campbell at Nelson Mandela Charity Party on 25 September 1997

Mandela party photo that put Naomi Campbell in 'blood diamond' storm

War crimes trial of former Liberian president may rest on events surrounding 1997 photograph taken at party in South Africa

Ed Pilkington in New York guardian.co.uk,
Friday 23 July 2010 18.06 BST

Nelson Mandela is pictured with guests at a party in South Africa in 1997. The interaction of Charles Taylor, Naomi Campbell and Mia Farrow at the event is likely to come under the spotlight at The Hague when Farrow and Campbell appear as witnesses at Taylor's war crimes trial. Photograph: Sipa Press / Rex Features [Guardian]

The picture speaks volumes. At the centre of a group of 10 people stands Nelson Mandela and beside him his partner and later wife, Graça Machel. On Mandela's other flank is a short man dressed in a military-style jacket with his hand held out as though he, and not the great South African leader, was hosting the gathering.

He is Charles Taylor, and the photograph was taken a month after he was elected president of Liberia. Now Taylor is in prison at The Hague, the first African president to face trial for war crimes.

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