Nigeria, March 5 -- A witness testifying on Thursday in the Finnish war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi in Liberia described harrowing details when he said, 'Angel Gabriel' beheaded a man after telling his captives "this plate is about to turn red".

The witness said that 'Angel Gabriel' ordered his soldiers to bring a plate and a stool. They laid the man's neck on the stool and the plate beneath his head.

"He said, ''Y'all see - I am about to do the same thing I did to the other bodies'," the witness told a silent courtroom. "I closed my eyes, when I opened my eyes, he had cut the guy's neck and I only saw him jerking."

According to the witness, the incident occurred sometime in 2001. He had gone to the Waterside Market in Monrovia in...