Liberian Rebel Leaders Wilt Before US-backed 'Iron Lady'

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a divorced mother-of-four who is Washington's unofficial candidate to succeed the Liberian President Charles Taylor, has warned that any American troops sent to the devastated country would have to stay for two years.

Mrs Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard graduate and former Liberian finance minister who has been exiled and imprisoned, told The Telegraph: "I hope they would have a robust mandate and be prepared to stay for one or two years, as long as it takes to train a proper army and police force."

She was speaking for the first time to a British newspaper at peace talks between rebel factions in neighbouring Ghana. She is one of the few women at the talks and seems able to make rebel leaders wilt through sheer force of personality - reinforced with the booming American twang that underpins her West African accent. She has already been dubbed Liberia's Iron Lady.

Her chances of becoming president have been helped by American insistence that Mr Taylor's successor should not be drawn from armed rebel factions.

If she succeeds, she faces a gargantuan task. Liberia has been ruined by the brutality and avarice of Mr Taylor, who is slowly caving into international pressure to cede power. In 14 years of civil war about 300,000 people - a tenth of Liberia's population - have been killed.

In recent weeks she has been lobbying furiously, moving from group to group in hotels across the Ghanaian capital, with two fearsome bodyguards in black suits and dark glasses in tow.

She does not lack self-confidence. "I've got more experience and better contacts than anyone else. I've worked for the Liberian government, in the private sector, for the Bretton Woods organisations and for the United Nations," she said. "If there's someone else who can match me then they're lurking deep in the shadows."

A Western diplomat explained: "The rebels have no choice but to listen. In effect the Americans have given the rebels a shortlist with Ellen's name at the top."

Her plea for peacekeeping troops may not sit well in the White House. President Bush is wary of committing troops. On Friday he hedged his bets by ordering a team of experts to West Africa to assess the situation.

Mr Taylor has said he will step down, but only after the arrival of a peacekeeping force to prevent further chaos. A senior official in Nigeria revealed that he has accepted an offer of asylum.

Mrs Johnson Sirleaf says that it will take five years to undo the damage done by Mr Taylor. She wants him tried for crimes against humanity.

Biography
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Independent Expert

In a professional life that has spanned over 30 years, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has held a number of prominent positions, including Minister of Finance of Liberia; President of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment; Vice President of Citicorp, Africa regional office; Vice President of Hong Kong Equator Bank; and Senior Loan Officer of the World Bank. She was one of seven international eminent persons selected by the Organization of African Unity in 1999 to investigate the Rwanda genocide.

Ms. Johnson Sirleaf is currently Chairperson of the Open Society Institute West Africa (OSIWA), part of the Soros Foundation Network. She also consults regularly for the UN Economic Commission for Africa as an External Adviser and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Modern Africa Growth and Investment Company (MAGIC). She is also Senior Adviser and West/Central Africa Representative of Modern Africa Fund Managers (MAFM), which has offices in Washington DC, USA and Johannesburg, South Africa, and the Chair and CEO of Kormah Investment and Development Corporation (KODIC), a financial and management advisory consultancy firm incorporated in Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire. Additionally, she is the founder and key supporter of the community development NGO, Measuagoon, in Liberia.

A presidential candidate in the 1997 Liberia general elections, Ms. Johnson Sirleaf came second in a field of thirteen. Prior to that, she served for five years as Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa of UNDP with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. She has represented Liberia on the boards of several international and regional financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Ms. Johnson Sirleaf has first hand experience of armed conflict. During the 1980 coup d’etat in Liberia she was one of only four government ministers who escaped assasination, while 13 others were shot and killed.

Ms. Johnson Sirleaf holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University. She has four sons.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.