Government refutes timber allegations

The Liberian government dismissed as “far-fetched” on Thursday the claims of a UK-based rights group that revenue from logging continued to fuel conflict in West Africa, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported. Information Minister Reginald Goodridge said that the Liberian government would be unwise to continue trafficking arms to the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) now that the war was over and the disarmament process underway in Sierra Leone, DPA reported. The RUF started complying with the latest peace agreement in May after waging civil war against the Sierra Leonean government for over 10 years. Global Witness Director Patrick Alley, who has recently been on a fact-finding trip to Liberia, said the timber trade had enabled President Charles Taylor to maintain his power base and again urged the UN to extend sanctions to logging. Global Witness first called for timber to be included when the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions on Liberia in May. These include a ban on direct or indirect import of all rough diamonds from Liberia and a travel ban on senior government officials and their spouses. A former arms embargo was tightened.