Top Liberia job to ex-Taylor ally

Mr Snowe overwhelmingly beat his opponent

A Liberian politician subject to a United Nations travel ban has been elected as the speaker of parliament.

Edwin Snowe, an ex-son-in-law of former President Charles Taylor, stood as an independent in last year's polls that ended Liberia's 14-year civil war.

He told the BBC he would work to protect democracy in the country.

Mr Taylor, currently in exile in Nigeria, was indicted by a UN-backed court in neighbouring Sierra Leone for alleged crimes against humanity there.

President elect Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is due to be sworn in to office on Monday.

'Law abiding'

The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in the capital, Monrovia, says the position of House of Representatives speaker is seen as the third most powerful political post in the country.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf takes on a huge challenge

Mr Snowe overwhelmingly beat his opponent Dusty Wolokollie, from Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf's Unity Party, by 48 votes to 13, reports Reuters news agency.

His election may weaken the new president's legislative hand, our correspondent says.

Mr Snowe, who is banned by the UN from leaving Liberia because of his past association with Mr Taylor, said that Liberians intended to show the international community that they were law-abiding citizens.

"We'll do everything possible to protect democracy, not just in Liberia, but in the sub-region," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme after Friday's election in the lower house.

The post-war challenges for Mrs Johnson Sirleaf are enormous.

The country is riddled with corruption, and lacks any decent public services including piped water or electricity.

Some 15,000 UN soldiers are in Liberia to help oversee the peace process.