Logging firms are skirting the rules and have used a loophole in Liberian law, granting them access to as much as a quarter of the country's landmass.

Liberia's justice minister on Friday accused ex-president Charles Taylor of meddling in Liberian politics in violation of an agreement under which he lives in exile in Nigeria. "We know that Mr Taylor is literally making telephone calls to his cronies in Liberia and other parts of the world daily," Minister of Justice Kabinneh Janneh said.

Logging firms are skirting the rules and have used a loophole in Liberian law, granting them access to as much as a quarter of the country's landmass.

Liberia's justice minister on Friday accused ex-president Charles Taylor of meddling in Liberian politics in violation of an agreement under which he lives in exile in Nigeria. "We know that Mr Taylor is literally making telephone calls to his cronies in Liberia and other parts of the world daily," Minister of Justice Kabinneh Janneh said.