France sends nearly 100 Gypsies back to Romania

FRANCE

Scores of Gypsies sent back to Romania

France expelled nearly 100 Gypsies, or Roma, to their native Romania on Thursday as part of an effort by conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy to dismantle Roma camps and sweep them out of the country. Those repatriated Thursday left "on a voluntary basis" and were given small sums of money -- 300 euros ($386) for each adult and 100 euros for children, officials said. Roma advocates countered that those who refused the deal would eventually be sent home without funds.

Alexandre Le Cleve, a spokesman for Rom Europe, said the expulsions were pointless. "Those who left this morning can certainly take a plane as early as tonight and come back to France," he said. "Some Roma people have been sent back seven or eight times, each time receiving the famous 300 euros."

France is allowed to repatriate Gypsies from Romania -- who as citizens of an E.U. state are allowed to circulate freely within the 27-member bloc -- if they are unable to prove they can support themselves while in France, Le Cleve said.

-- Associated Press

SOUTH AFRICA

Mandela charity trustee resigns over diamonds

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund announced Wednesday that its former chief executive, Jeremy Ractliffe, was stepping down from the charity's board after he acknowledged secretly keeping alleged "blood diamonds" for more than a decade. Police said Thursday that a decision had not been made on whether to file charges.

Ractliffe's possession of the diamonds came to light this month when supermodel Naomi Campbell testified she gave them to Ractliffe in 1997 after receiving them from three men who came to her hotel room after she attended a Children's Fund charity event also attended by then-Liberian president Charles Taylor.

Prosecutors had called Campbell to help prove Taylor traded in illegal diamonds to arm Sierra Leone rebels.

Ractliffe, a respected businessman, has said he kept the stones and did not report them to authorities in a bid to protect the reputations of Mandela, Campbell and the charity, of which he is a founder.