names you don’t expect to see in a war crimes trial

“A judge in the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor has decided that supermodel Naomi Campbell’s testimony in the case will go ahead Thursday… Prosecutors say Taylor gave Campbell a diamond during the war in Sierra Leone, contradicting Taylor’s testimony that he never handled the precious stones that fueled the conflict.”

“Prosecutors said they also wanted to call actress Mia Farrow… Prosecutors have said that Farrow confirmed that Taylor gave Campbell a diamond.”

There’s also something strangely elementary schoolish about the nature of the testimony: “Yes he did give me a diamond!”

Of course, there wasn’t much that was amusing about the war itself. Just as a reminder:

“The war crimes charges against him stem from the widespread murder, rape and mutilation that occurred during the civil war in Sierra Leone. It was fought largely by teenagers who were forced to kill, given addictive drugs to provoke violent behavior, and often instructed to rape and plunder.“

And cut off people’s limbs, for that matter.