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

Liberia, West Africa’s most forested country, has a long history of illegal logging, which the country's regulator, the Forestry Development Authority, has repeatedly struggled to confront.

Liberia, a country of more than 5 million people, is bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast, and has a long coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. Despite a recent past that includes civil war and chronic problems with illegal logging, much of its tropical forests remain lush and intact. President Joseph Boakai's February appointment of Merab has been met with criticism by environmentalists. Requests to the president's office seeking comment on Merab's appointment were not answered.

A logger since the 1980s, one of Merab’s companies, Liberia Wood Management Corporation, came up in the trial of Taylor,for aiding rebels during Sierra Leone’s civil war. Taylor's activities were part-funded through the sale of what was dubbed “blood timber.” “I never engaged in arms trafficking. I was one of those who was affected by this,” said Merab. “We never participated in the war, we never supported any members of the war.”

Merab said there was no court judgement finding illegality, but rather an executive order from then President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made without proof. Merab said some taxes were owed but it was a smaller amount than alleged.

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