Naomi Campbell tells court of "dirty pebbles"

The fund's donor relations manager has denied it ever received diamonds from Campbell, chief defense lawyer Courtenay Griffiths said.

Campbell said she recounted the night-time incident at breakfast to actress Mia Farrow and her then modeling agent, Carole White.

"One of the two said 'That's obviously Charles Taylor', and I said 'I guess it was'," the model told the court.

Asked whether she thought it was strange to be given such a gift, Campbell replied: "It's not abnormal for me to get gifts, I get gifts all the time."

The supermodel, whose temper outbursts have previously landed her in court, spoke calmly and said either Farrow or White had said the stones were probably diamonds, although she did not recall showing them to the women.

Cross-examined by Griffiths, Campbell denied White's account that her former agent was present at the late-night meeting with the two black men.

The defense lawyer told reporters that Campbell's testimony did not incriminate Taylor, since she had said she did not know who gave her the diamonds.

"There is now a large hole in the theory the prosecution are trying to float regarding the use and possession of diamonds by Mr Taylor," Griffiths told reporters outside the courtroom.

The prosecution acknowledged there were "significant differences" between Campbell's testimony and the statements of Farrow and White.

"It will be for the judges to determine the credibility of the evidence before them at the end of the case; it is not appropriate for counsel to comment on that at this time," the prosecution said in a statement.