Naomi Campbell evidence faces scrutiny at The Hague

Campbell: 'I saw a few dirty looking stones in the pouch'

Testimony given by model Naomi Campbell to Charles Taylor's war crimes trial will come under scrutiny on Monday.

Her ex-agent Carole White and actress Mia Farrow are due to give evidence as the prosecution seeks to link Mr Taylor to so-called "blood diamonds".

He is accused of war crimes during Sierra Leone's civil war, including using the diamonds to fund rebels.

Ms Campbell testified that she received "dirty looking stones" after a dinner which Mr Taylor attended in 1997.

But she said she was given a pouch containing the stones by two unidentified men who appeared at her door later that evening, and she had no knowledge of who was the ultimate donor.

She told the court she had given the stones to Jeremy Ractliffe of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) the next morning, because she wanted the stones to go to charity.

Mr Ractliffe has now handed the gems to police, and on Sunday they confirmed the stones were real diamonds.

'Powerful motive'
Both were also at the charity dinner, which was hosted by South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela.

Ms White has previously testified she heard Mr Taylor tell Ms Campbell he was going to send her diamonds.

In evidence read out in court previously, Ms White said that "Ms Campbell seemed excited about the diamonds and she kept talking about them".

Ms White has also previously recalled that Ms Campbell was disappointed when seeing the rough gems as she thought they would be shiny.

Mr Taylor's defence lawyer, Courtenay Griffiths, has pointed to a legal dispute between Ms White and Ms Campbell. Mr Griffiths told the model in court: "This is a woman who has a powerful motive to lie about you."

Ms Farrow's previous evidence to the prosecution has suggested Ms Campbell did know Mr Taylor was the source.

On Sunday, Musa Zondi, a spokesman for the South African Hawks police investigation unit, said tests had validated the stones as diamonds.

Possessing uncut diamonds is an offence in South Africa.

Mr Ractliffe said he had taken the diamonds as he thought it might be illegal for Ms Campbell to take them out of the country.

He said he had kept the gems to "protect the reputation of the NMCF, Mr Mandela himself and Naomi Campbell".

Mr Taylor, a former rebel leader and president of Liberia, is accused of using illegally mined diamonds to secure weapons for Sierra Leone's RUF rebels during the 1991-2001 civil war - a charge he denies.

Prosecutors say that from his seat of power in Liberia, Mr Taylor also trained and commanded the rebels.

The rebels were notoriously brutal, frequently hacking off the hands and legs of civilians.