Liberia’s “Iron Lady," Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who takes office this month as Africa’s first elected female president, says she will live up to her nickname if former warlords try to drag her country back into civil war.
“They should not be fooled because I am a woman ... I am going to be tough,” the 67-year-old former Finance Minister told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday at her Monrovia home. She will be sworn in on Jan. 16.
Johnson-Sirleaf, who defeated soccer millionaire George Weah in a Nov. 8 presidential run-off, has pledged to try to heal the wounds of the brutal 14-year civil war ended in 2003 that left Liberia in ruins and killed a quarter of a million people.
No reconciliation for warlords
But her reconciliation offer would not apply to former warlords and combatants who tried once again to rule by the gun and challenge the authority of her government.
“Let us be clear here that whoever attempts to destabilize the state and ... introduce violence once again into our society will feel the brunt of the law,” Johnson-Sirleaf said.
Her second-round election win was contested by former AC Milan striker Weah, who cried fraud even though the result was endorsed by international observers. Weah later dropped his challenge, citing the need for peace in Liberia.
But Weah supporters, who include poor, young and unemployed remnants of the child militias that terrorized civilians during the war, staged some violent protests and Monrovia was swept with rumors of a coup plot last month.
The U.N. has 15,000 peacekeepers in the West African state.
Johnson-Sirleaf acknowledged she could face trouble if she did not move quickly to tackle unemployment and poverty. “I know there are many pockets of discontent out there,” she said.
The new president has offered Weah a post in her government.
At least one of Liberia’s former warlords, who fought either with or against former President Charles Taylor, won a Senate seat in the recent elections. Others had thrown their support behind the defeated Weah, raising fears of unrest.
U.S. ‘friend’
Accused of fomenting a web of regional conflicts, Taylor went into exile in Nigeria in 2003 and is wanted on war crimes and atrocities charges by a special court in Sierra Leone.
Facing calls from Europe and the United States that she insist Nigeria hand over Taylor, Johnson-Sirleaf said she agreed he should “have his day in court." But the issue was sensitive and she would not allow it to disrupt Liberia’s peace process.
“The security of Liberia is paramount for me and we cannot take any action that would lead to undermining it,” she said, adding she would consult African leaders on the Taylor case.
Johnson-Sirleaf hoped to strengthen the relationship between the United States and her country, Africa’s oldest independent republic which was founded by freed American slaves in 1847.
“The USA is a traditional friend and one that is now willing to help us make this final transition from post-conflict to a well-performing economy where democracy reigns,” she said.
But she stressed these closer ties with Washington would not be forged at the expense of relations with countries in Africa, in particular, or with Europe and Asia.
In a sign of strong U.S. support for the new Liberian president, Laura Bush, the wife of President George W. Bush, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plan to attend her inauguration.
Johnson-Sirleaf said the U.S. government shared her concerns over the security of Liberia and was providing support in this area, as too were Nigeria and Ghana.
She also promised to be tough on terrorism. U.S. intelligence services have reported that senior al-Qaida operatives made diamond deals in Liberia during Taylor’s rule.
“That is not going to happen again,” Johnson-Sirleaf said.
