Environmental groups criticize Liberia's new logging law

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Two global environmental watchdogs have condemned a new law in Liberia that they say rewards logging companies at the expense of one of the world's poorest nations, and they called on donors to halt support until the law is overturned.

"The Liberian government has secretly given the country's loggers a $13 million tax break," Global Witness and Tropenbos International said in a new report this week, adding that the law "has undone 15 years of reform" in the lucrative timber sector.

Liberia's timber industry was in the international spotlight in the early 2000s when its products were said to be used to fuel conflict. Sanctions were placed on the West African nation until a post-war government took office in 2006.