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Liberian foes choose leader
Government and rebel delegates have selected a businessman, Gyude Bryant, to head Liberiaâs interim post-war administration. His appointment was formally announced on Thursday in Ghana, where peace talks have been taking place for more than two months. "I see myself as a healer," said Mr Bryant after being chosen ahead of two other candidates. Interim President Moses Blah is due to stand down in October in favour of the new administration, which is supposed to organise elections in 2005. "due to stand down" and "supposed to organise elections" are the key phrases here. Mr Bryant, chairman of the Liberia Action Party, is a leading figure in the Episcopal Church, one of Liberiaâs main religious denominations, and is not seen as a political heavyweight. The BBCâs Jonathan Paye-Layleh in the capital, Monrovia, says that Liberians are surprised by his appointment. His deputy, Wesley Johnson, is an accounting lecturer. When you need to rebuild a shattered economy, you could do worse than appointing a businessman and a accountant.
Since he doesnât have his own private army, itâll make it easier to overthrow him when the worldâs attention has shifted to the next crisis. A contingent of Ghanaian troops is due to leave for Liberia later on Thursday to join some 900 Nigerian peacekeepers already deployed. The Nigerian and Ghanaian soldiers are to be joined by troops from Senegal and Mali later in the week. Eventually the West African force will number more than 3,000 troops. However, there has been fighting in Bong County, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north-east of Monrovia, despite the ceasefire agreement. It is a African ceasefire after all.
Why bother, the fighting will just follow you. Posted by: Steve 2003-08-21 |
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