Sirleaf vows end to Liberia's violent past (AP) Updated: 2006-01-17 09:01
Africa's first elected female head of state Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn
in Monday as war-battered Liberia's new president, promising a "fundamental
break" with the West African nation's violent past and pledging to rebuild.
With U.S. Navy warships offshore for the first time since the civil war's end
two years ago, and first lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
on hand in a show of support, the moment was met with thunderous applause from
thousands of guests.
"We know that your vote was a vote for change, a vote for peace, security ...
and we have heard you loudly," the 67-year-old Sirleaf said in her inaugural
speech. "We recognize this change is not a change for change's sake, but a
fundamental break with the past."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent congratulations, saying Sirleaf had a
"historic mandate to lead the nation toward a future of lasting peace and
stability."
Liberia's new President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
right, is helped with a sash by Liberian Senior Ambassador-at-large George
W. Wallace, Jr., during her inauguration at the Capitol Building in
Monrovia, Liberia, Monday, Jan. 16,
2006.[AP] | Founded by freed American slaves in 1847, Liberia was prosperous and peaceful
for more than a century, bolstered by abundant timber and diamond wealth. But
back-to-back civil wars from 1989 to 2003 brought the country to its knees,
killing 200,000 people and displacing half the nation's population of 3 million.
It is now one of the world's poorest countries, ranked 206th in terms of per
capita income out of 208 countries on 2004 World Bank list.
Today, not even the capital has running water or electricity: the rich rely
on generators, the poor on candles. Unemployment is 80 percent. "We have all
suffered. The individual sense of deprivation is immense," Sirleaf said.
She acknowledged the task of rebuilding would be coupled with high
expectations, but called for patience.
"The task of reconstructing our devastating economy is awesome," she said.
"There will be no quick fix, yet we have the potential to promote a healthy
economy in which Liberians and international investors can prosper."
Ensuring Liberia remains peaceful, though, will be Sirleaf's most pressing —
and perhaps most difficult — task.
George Weah, the soccer star who lost the November runoff, was backed by most
of the country's top warlords and faction leaders. He grudgingly accepted defeat
and attended the inauguration.
Several lawmakers in the new legislature, including the House speaker, are
under a U.N. travel ban and assets freeze for constituting "a threat to peace."
One newly appointed senator ordered his troops to hack off the ears of a
captured president in 1990. Others are allies of one-time warlord and president
Charles Taylor, who was forced from power in 2003 as rebels shelled the capital.
Another crucial task: assuring the future of 100,000 ex-combatants who laid
down arms last year. Many of them are prowling the streets, unemployed.
For now, Sirleaf's government is backed by 15,000 U.N. troops. A similar U.N.
force pulled out of neighboring Sierra Leone in the final days of 2005,
completing a successful, five-year mission that restored the peace.
Many see Taylor as one of the biggest threats. Exiled to Nigeria, he has been
accused by some U.N. officials of trying to meddle in Liberian affairs, mostly
by telephone.
Taylor is wanted by a U.N.-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone for his
role in fueling that country's civil war, but Nigeria has refused to hand him
over.
In an interview with NBC's "Today" show broadcast Monday, Sirleaf suggested
she would like to see Taylor put on trial.
"Mr. Taylor has always said he wanted his day in court to defend himself. We
should grant him that privilege," she said.
Rice said she was confident Taylor would be handed over to the Sierra Leone
court eventually. He "is through raping and pillaging this country, and the
Liberian people are trying to look forward," Rice told reporters on a flight to
Monrovia.
In her address, Sirleaf promised to stamp out corruption — a key step to win
over skeptical foreign donors.
She also called on Liberians abroad and refugees in West Africa to return and
rebuild. The U.N. says nearly 400,000 Liberians are displaced, both inside the
country and the region.
Born in Liberia in 1938, Sirleaf worked her way through college in the United
States by mopping floors and waiting tables. She graduated with a master's
degree in public administration from Harvard in 1971 and took top jobs in
Liberia, including finance minister, and senior positions at Citibank, the World
Bank and the U.N.
Twice imprisoned in Liberia in the 1980s for political reasons, she returned
during a break in fighting in 1997 to run for president. She lost to Taylor, but
tried again last fall, emerging victorious.
On Monday, standing in front of the Liberian flag with her left hand on a
Bible, Sirleaf took the oath of office in a ceremony attended by thousands of
Liberians and scores of foreign dignitaries, including Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo and South Africa's Thabo Mbeki.
Armed U.N. peacekeepers surveyed the scene from atop surrounding buildings
with binoculars.
"It is time for us, regardless of our political affiliations or persuasions,
to come together to heal and rebuild our nation," she said.
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