Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

MONROVIA — Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has dismissed the head of the national oil refinery, Harry Greaves, on suspicion of embezzlement, officials said Monday.

Greaves, whom the Liberian media have dubbed "The Untouchable", signed a deal in May on behalf of the Liberian government with international group Zakhem for the 24.8-million-dollar refurbishment of Monrovia's oil terminal.

"President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sacked the Director of LPRC," the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company, Information Minister Laurence Bropleh said on national radio.

"This decision of the president is the result of investigations on the Zakhem contract." Bropleh said results of the probe "show that there were some fouls."

The contract with the international construction, engineering and investment group, founded in Lebanon in 1963, invalidated an earlier deal between the interim government and a British company worth 15 million dollars.

The financial gap between the two deals raised allegations of corruption in the media.

Sirleaf set up a fact-finding panel in July to investigate the claims.

Greaves' dismissal is a first for Sirleaf, who was elected in late 2005, as she has never before fired a senior official over corruption allegations.

Greaves, a longtime friend of the president, is also an influential member of the governing party.