New Liberia forest boss plans to increase exports, denies working with war criminal Charles Taylor

In an interview with The Associated Press, the new head of Liberia's forest management authority, Rudolph Merab, said he would work to increase timber exports and cut regulations. Those plans are sure to spark worry among environmentalists and international observers who hoped the new administration in Liberia, West Africa's most forested nation, would confront chronic problems with illegal logging. Merab, recently appointed as head of the Forestry Development Authority, defended his record, which includes two of his companies accused of illegal logging. He also denied that one of his companies worked with Charles Taylor, a former Liberia president who was convicted of war crimes for involvement during the civil war in neighboring country Sierra Leone.