* Former Liberian interim president acquitted * Court says not enough evidence on corruption charges MONROVIA, May 1 (Reuters) - A court in Liberia has acquitted former interim President Gyude Bryant on charges of embezzling $1.4 million when he led the West African country's post-war transitional government. Bryant served for two years as president in an administration that included all the factions from Liberia's 1989-2003 war. He was freed late on Thursday with four others accused of bribery, theft of property and criminal conspiracy. "I think justice has prevailed ... I have been going through this trail for a long time but today it is over," Bryant said after the verdict was read out in court. A court document said the jury had dismissed the charges due to a lack of evidence, without giving any further details. Bryant smiled and made phone calls while a co-defendant burst into tears and punched the air when the verdict was read. Liberia, Africa's oldest independent republic, was founded in the 19th century by freed black slaves from America. It is seeking to boost investment in mining and forestry projects as it recovers from the war, which displaced 1 million people. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf vowed to crack down on corruption when she became Africa's first elected female head of state after winning a 2005 election. Some low-level officials have been dismissed for suspected corruption but donors, on whom the government is highly dependent, are pressuring the administration to do more to fight graft. (Reporting by Alphonso Toweh; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Robert Woodward)
Vasily Fedosenko crosses a river with his cameras in this undated photo. Fedosenko is a Reuters photographer based in the Belarussian capital, Minsk. Born in 1960 in the provincial town of ...
