The man who received uncut diamonds from  supermodel Naomi Campbell after a 1997 charity dinner with then-South  African President Nelson Mandela said on Friday he had handed them over  to police.
<p id="ynw-article-part2">Jeremy Ratcliffe, the former manager of  Mandela's Children's Fund charity, said in a statement he took the three  stones from Campbell a day after she received them because he feared  she might be breaking the law by taking them out of South Africa.</p>
Testifying  on Thursday at the Hague war crimes tribunal of former Liberian ruler  Charles Taylor, Campbell said she had received some "dirty looking  pebbles" after the charity dinner. But she said she did not know if they  were blood diamonds or whether the unidentified donor had been Taylor.

"Naomi  suggested they could be of some benefit to the Nelson Mandela  Children's Fund (NMCF) -- but I told her I would not involve the NMCF in  anything that could possibly be illegal," Ratcliffe said. "In the end I  decided I should just keep them."

"A factor that influenced me  not to report the matter to anyone was to protect the reputation of the  NMCF, Mr. Mandela himself and Naomi Campbell, none of whom were  benefiting in any way," he added.

Ratcliffe handed over the stones on Thursday, shortly after Campbell's testimony, police spokesman Musa Zondi said.

"They  are now being handed over to the diamonds board for authentication and  whatever happens after depends on a number of other things but there is  an offence against possessing uncut diamonds," Zondi said.

A decision on investigating further or laying charges would wait until after the authentication process, he said.

Taylor  is charged with 11 counts of instigating murder, rape, mutilation,  sexual slavery and conscription of child soldiers during wars in Liberia  and Sierra Leone in which more than 250,000 people were killed. He  denies all charges.

Ref: <a href="http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100806/tts-uk-warcrimes-taylor-campbell-ca02f96.html" target="_blank">Yahoo</a>