President-elect &to=http://english.pravda.ru/politics/2005/12/04/69145.html' target=_blank>Ellen Johnson Sirleaf pledged to unite her war-battered country when she takes office Monday and earn the trust of international donors whose aid is crucial to rebuilding it.
&to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/12/16/40883.html' target=_blank>Liberia knew little but war from 1989 to 2003, when a peace accord sent then-President Charles Taylor into exile and ushered in a transitional government backed by 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers. Many are hoping Sirleaf's election will mark an end to the West African nation's violent past.
"Our challenge in our country is first and foremost the challenge of peace and security," Sirleaf said Saturday, addressing a forum of West African women in the capital, Monrovia.
"In order to get that peace and security, we also need to work hard at reconciliation for a nation," she said.
Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated economist and former World Bank official, will become the first democratically elected female president not only in Liberia, but in Africa. She takes office Monday as leader of the continent's oldest republic, founded by freed American slaves in 1847.
The inauguration will be attended by U.S. first lady Laura Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Sirleaf bested soccer star George Weah in a November run-off. Backed by most of Liberia's former warlords, Weah contested the ballot but grudgingly conceded defeat in December. International observers deemed the vote fair, reports AP.
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