Liberia

LIBERIA

Liberia, Mittal sign billion-dollar mining deal

Toronto Globe and Mail

29 December 2006

The world's largest steel maker, Mittal Steel Co. NV, signed an iron ore mining contract with Liberia yesterday that promises to pour more than $1-billion (U.S.) in investment into the war-ravaged state.

The agreement is a revised version of an August, 2005, deal rejected as unfair by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf when she was elected five months later.

The deal is expected to generate more than 20,000 jobs. "There were major concessions made and we believe that the national interest has now been protected ... Mittal Steel can start its operations," Ms. Johnson Sirleaf said