Actress Mia Farrow told a war crimes court on Monday that she had heard supermodel Naomi Campbell say she had been given a "huge diamond" by Charles Taylor when he was Liberia's president.

Campbell appeared at the Special Court for Sierra Leone last week and said she had been given "dirty looking pebbles" after a 1997 charity dinner in South Africa, but did not know if they were diamonds from Taylor, who is on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In court on Monday, Farrow said she had seen Campbell join a group of guests at breakfast after the dinner, hosted by South African president Nelson Mandela, and that the British model had immediately started relating something that had happened overnight.

"She said in the night she had been awakened by men knocking at her door that said they had been sent to her by Charles Taylor, and they had given her a huge diamond," Farrow told the court, adding that Campbell had been "quite excited" about it.

Farrow said Campbell had then said she intended to give the diamond to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, adding that "it was a sort of an unforgettable moment."

Prosecutors are seeking to link the diamonds to Taylor to prove allegations, which he denies, that he received diamonds from rebels in Sierra Leone and used them to buy weapons.

Conflicting testimony

Prosecutors questioned Farrow about the breakfast events in 1997, showing her Campbell's testimony from last week and a US media interview in which she denied saying the diamonds were from Taylor or denied getting diamonds at all.

Farrow said Campbell's versions of events were not consistent with hers. "Naomi Campbell said they came from Charles Taylor," she added under questioning.

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 the charges.

The trial has been running for just over three years, but attracted little international attention until Campbell testified.

Modeling agent Carole White had been scheduled to appear as the first witness on Monday, but the prosecution reversed the order, sparking an angry outburst from the defense.

"We have prepared and planned our strategy based on the notification that White would be the first witness," Taylor's defense lawyer Courtenay Griffiths said.

Prosecutor Nicholas Koumjian said he had always intended to call Farrow first and blamed a court scheduling mix-up.