NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - A global diamond trade organization embarked on Wednesday on a campaign to counteract any negative publicity stemming from a new Hollywood movie and a rap song about conflict or blood diamonds.

The print and online campaign by the World Diamond Council was sparked by jewelers' fears of sales being hit by the upcoming film The Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo Dicaprio, about a South African mercenary jailed for smuggling in Sierra Leone, ravaged during a civil war that killed 50,000 people.

The Warner Brothers movie, due for release later this year, follows a Grammy-winning song by rapper Kanye West, Diamonds from Sierra Leone, with a video clip featuring blood running down a girl's hand as she slips on a diamond ring.

Read more at Reuters.