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The speaker of Liberia’s House of Representatives has denied being involved in a huge fire at the West African nation’s legislature.<\/p>\n
Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa was among those questioned by the police after the Capitol building was set alight.<\/p>\n
No-one was in the building at the time of the fire but the authorities have launched an investigation and offered a $5,000 (\u00a33,900) reward for anyone with more information.<\/p>\n
Koffa told the BBC he had spent a total of nine hours at the police station, but insists he was just there to accompany a colleague, Representative Frank Saah Foko.<\/p>\n
The fire occurred on Wednesday morning – a day after plans to remove Koffa from his speaker role sparked a tense protest.<\/p>\n
Several demonstrators, including an aide to former President George Weah, were arrested during the protest.<\/p>\n
Following the fire, which saw thick black smoke rising above the capital, Monrovia, police said they had brought Koffa, Foko and two others in for questioning.<\/p>\n
Police chief Gregory Coleman referred to a Facebook post Koffa made during the protests, saying that the speaker must explain it.<\/p>\n
Koffa said he would give a written statement about the post but that he had not actually been questioned.<\/p>\n
He told the BBC the fire could have broken out for any number of reasons.<\/p>\n
“If it was arson, that would have been a horrible thing,” he said, adding that he had “never been, and would never be, associated with that kind of violence”.<\/p>\n
He said that the part of the building damaged by the fire was old and that a contractor had previously warned officials they were “sitting on a time-bomb”.<\/p>\n
Koffa also called for a “neutral”, international investigation into the fire.<\/p>\n
Liberia’s House of Representatives has been beset by a power struggle, in which a faction of lawmakers claims to have removed and replaced Koffa as speaker.<\/p>\n
Another group has resisted the action, calling it unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
A Supreme Court ruling has failed to solve the internal dispute.<\/p>\n