Johnson-Sirleaf vows to end Liberia's corruption and violence

MONROVIA - Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has taken office as Africa's first elected woman president, pledging to break with the country's history of corruption and violence that spread war to neighboring states.

The colorful, open-air inauguration was attended by US first lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, signaling US backing for Africa's oldest republic, founded in 1847 by freed slaves from America.

Johnson-Sirleaf, wearing a cream and gold dress, was sworn in to cheers from hundreds of foreign dignitaries and Liberians, including women wearing dresses emblazoned with her portrait.

"By their votes the Liberian people have sent a clear message that they want peace. They want to move on with their lives," she said in her first speech as leader of a nation left without basic services like water and power after a 14-year war that killed up to 250,000 people and ended in 2003.

The Harvard-trained economist, 67, said she would work to restore power to the ramshackle coastal capital Monrovia within 150 days of taking office.

As part of her pledge to fight graft, she named the first members of her cabinet, including the ministers of finance and defence, both of whom have international experience and are likely to find favor with donors.

Antoinette Sayeh, former head of the World Bank program in Benin, was appointed Minister of Finance while Brownie Samukai, a former director of police who has received training in Israel and the United States, was named Defence Minister.

Among the inauguration guests was millionaire soccer star George Weah, whom Johnson-Sirleaf beat in a November runoff.

US secret service agents mingled with UN peacekeepers in the war-scarred capital and two American warships, the USS Mount Whitney and USS Carr, were in position offshore.

"Oh yes, God has answered our prayer," said Teresa Smith, a businesswoman attending the ceremony with her six children.

"SPECIAL FONDNESS"

Johnson-Sirleaf vowed to tackle a national debt of US$3.5 billion (NZ$5bn) and to fight rampant corruption, which experts say has fueled decades of instability. She added she would stand by a foreign donor-backed program that will oversee state spending.

Liberia's conflict sparked a civil war in Sierra Leone to the west and fueled violence in both Ivory Coast and Guinea.

Johnson-Sirleaf said: "To our sister republics - west, east, north or south of our borders - we make this pledge: under my administration, no inch of Liberian soil will be used to conspire and to perpetrate aggressions against your country."

At least nine African presidents including Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, both of whom were instrumental in ending Liberia's war, were at the ceremony.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sent a message of support.

Mrs Bush praised Johnson-Sirleaf for her maiden speech, saying women around the world would be proud of her, and stressed Liberia's special relationship with the United States, which spent over US$840 million last year on the African nation.

"Liberia was started by freed slaves, African Americans founded Liberia," she said. "They feel a special fondness for the United States."

Weary of their country's recent history of conflict, chaos and destruction, Liberians have high expectations both for the new president they call "Mama Ellen" and for the superpower across the Atlantic they look upon as a kind of godfather.

- REUTERS