(CNN) -- Prosecutors at the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor hope the testimony of supermodel Naomi Campbell will link Taylor to the trade in illegal conflict diamonds, which they say he used to fund a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone.
Campbell admitted she received a gift of "dirty-looking stones" she assumed was from Taylor following a dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in 1997.
Who is Charles Taylor?
Taylor was a rebel warlord who fought against the government of former ally Samuel Doe during Liberia's first civil war between 1989 and the mid 1990s.
He eventually became president in 1997 despite considerable domestic opposition. But after a period of relative peace, Liberia lurched into a second civil war in 1999 which lasted until a peace agreement was signed in 2003, forcing Taylor into exile in Nigeria.
What is he accused of?
Taylor, 62, is accused of fueling a bloody civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone through the sale of diamonds that led to widespread murder, rape, and mutilation. The conflict ended in 2002.
During the decade-long conflict, teenagers from the Taylor-backed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) were forced to kill, given addictive drugs to provoke violent behavior, and often instructed to rape and plunder. They were supplied with weapons directly funded from the proceeds of diamond sales, according to the United Nations.
In 2002, a United Nations-backed court was established in Sierra Leone and demanded Taylor's extradition to face war crimes charges. Nigeria approved his extradition to Liberia in 2006 but he disappeared briefly before being recaptured and eventually transferred into U.N. custody.
The U.N. decided to move Taylor's trial from Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, to The Hague in 2008 because of concerns that Taylor's presence would harm stability and security in the region. The trial opened in June 2007, but Taylor boycotted the first session, saying he could not expect a fair trial and calling the proceedings a "charade." The prosecution began its case in January 2008 and finished in February 2009.
Taylor is charged with five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, sexual slavery and violence, and enslavement. He also faces five counts of war crimes, including acts of terrorism and torture, and one count of other serious violations of international humanitarian law. He denies the charges.
He is the first African head of state to go on trial for war crimes before an international tribunal.
What are conflict diamonds?
Conflict or "blood" diamonds are diamonds illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn areas, particularly in central and western Africa, according to the World Diamond council, which represents the commercial diamond trade.
The United Nations defines conflict diamonds as "...diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council".
They are generally in "rough" form, meaning they have recently been extracted and not yet cut.
At the height of the civil war in Sierra Leone, it is estimated that conflict diamonds represented approximately four percent of the world's diamond production. CNN
