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Campaigning Begins in Liberia
 Two years after the end of more than a decade of conflict in Liberia, the country's first openly contested election campaign has begun. The race for president includes 22 candidates, the best known of whom are George Weah, 36, a soccer superstar who was the World Football Federation's player of the year in 1995, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 66, a former United Nations official who was the leading opposition candidate in the last election -- which was won by former rebel leader Charles Taylor, who threatened to continue his brutal war unless elected. Weah's star power has attracted a media spotlight, along with a front-runner designation in some reports. But Sirleaf has leveraged her extensive international contacts and her support from women to garner considerable backing at home and abroad. In addition, vigorous campaign efforts are being mounted by a number of other contenders, including Charles Brumskine, a former Senate leader; Winston Tubman, a former minister of justice who served until earlier this year as the United Nations Special Representative for Somalia; Nathaniel Barnes, a former finance minister; and Sekou Conneh, leader of one of the armed factions that helped drive Taylor from office in 2003. Posted by: Fred 2005-08-31 |
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