Nelson Mandela's aide resigns over Campbell diamonds

LONDON: The former head of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Jeremy Ractliffe, has resigned from the charity's board after admitting he secretly kept the 'blood diamonds' given to him by supermodel Naomi Campbell.

The diamonds were allegedly received by Campbell as a gift from Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, currently on trial for war crimes.

Ractliffe said he had kept the diamonds in order to protect the reputation of Mandela and admitted he had the gems only when Campbell mentioned him at the ongoing trial of Taylor two weeks ago, reported BBC online.

Prosecutors say Campbell received the diamonds from Taylor in 1997, during a fund-raising gala organised by Mandela.

"Naomi suggested they could be of some benefit to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund but I told her I would not involve the NMCF in anything that could possibly be illegal," Ractliffe had said in a statement two weeks ago.

He later said he took the diamonds as he thought it might be illegal for Campbell to take them out of the country.

Ractliffe has apologised for his secrecy, the charity's board said in a statement.

The former chief executive handed the diamonds over to South African police after Campbell testified that she had given three stones to Ractliffe because she wanted them to go to charity.

Ractliffe said he had kept the stones, which could link him to illegal "blood diamonds", because he wanted to protect the reputation of Mandela and his charity.

Stepping down from his role as trustee, Ractliffe apologised for causing "possible reputational risk" to the organisation.

Taylor is accused of using illegally mined diamonds to secure weapons for Sierra Leone's RUF rebels during the 1991-2001 civil war, a charge he denies.