Mr. Blah said RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh personally complained to Mr. Taylor about the rape, looting and killings committed allegedly by Liberians helping the RUF in Sierra Leone.

According to Mr. Blah, "he [Taylor] said this kind of thing must happen when you're fighting war."

The RUF had a reputation for brutality, such as chopping off the arms and legs of civilians, as well as killing and raping. The RUF rebels were also notorious for mutilating civilians.

Mr. Blah told the war crimes court Thursday that his former boss responded by threatening to withdraw his troops from neighboring Sierra Leone if complaints about atrocities were not halted. Mr. Blah, who briefly succeeded Mr. Taylor as President, is the most senior figure to testify in The Hague.

Mr. Taylor faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He is accused of helping Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in their brutal conflict with the government.

Mr. Blah informed the court that Mr. Taylor mediated in arguments between the rebels. He said on one occasion a rebel commander disagreed with the Liberian President's judgment, but said he had to accept "the chief's decision".

Mr. Blah said RUF fighters tried to help Mr. Taylor's forces against Liberia's LURD rebels, who eventually forced him from power in 2003.

Mr. Taylor sat in court taking notes during his former deputy's testimony.

Earlier Mr. Blah disclosed that the commander of one of Mr. Taylor's units in Liberia "had a habit of eating fellow human beings".

Blah said he saw Nelson Gaye roasted a human hand on a fire, ate it with boiled cassava and noted that Gaye's Marine unit was one of Taylor's forces which, he was told, should not be pursued if they committed atrocities.

As Mr. Blah took the witness stand on Monday, he was careful not to look at the man he served for nearly 20 years.

He gave the court a detailed account of Mr. Taylor's bloody rise to power and acknowledged the use of child soldiers.

Mr. Blah became Vice President of Liberia in 2000, and President after Taylor was forced into exile in 2003. However, he was only president for two months, until October 2003, when a United Nations-backed transitional government was sworn in.

Moses Blah continues with his testimony.

The prosecutor Stephen Rapp ("PO") continues the direct examination of former Liberian vice-president Moses Blah ("WW").

PO: I would like to go back to yesterday: you mentioned your flight from Burkina Faso to Liberia. Why did you obtain the sheep?

WW: We did not have that type of sheep in Liberia.

PO: Why did you need the sheep?

WW: We had a farm.

PO: Did you still have farm when you were ambassador?

WW: Yes.

PO: What is current status of this farm?

WW: I still have the farm and work there myself.

PO: What was the reason for your trip to Burkinabe president Blaise Compoare?

WW: I had to deliver a message and bring back the response to Taylor.

PO: Was this an oral message?

WW: Yes, orally.

PO: What was the message?

WW: I had to say that Mr. Taylor still saw Compaore as his friend. Although he had difficulties, he should still remember him to be a friend.

PO: What was the response of Compaore?