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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051113/ap_on_re_af/liberia_s_iron_lady_2">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051113/ap_on_re_af/liberia_s_iron_lady_2</A></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT color=#9c3632>LIBERIA<FONT
face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><STRONG>: </STRONG></FONT></FONT><FONT
face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#3a3838>Liberia's 'Iron Lady' Poised
for Tough Job</FONT></FONT><BR><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
color=#9c3632 size=-1><EM>Associated Press</EM></FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial
color=#3a3838 size=2>Liberia's 19th president was overthrown and assassinated.
His successor was executed by guerrillas who first cut off his ears. No. 21 won
office after igniting a civil war but fled into exile amid a rebel assault on
the capital. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf — a strong-willed, erudite, 67-year-old
former finance minister — wants to be No. 23. If her commanding electoral lead
is certified, she will become Africa's <A
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1642362,00.html"><EM>first
elected female head of state</EM></A>, one of the few in the world. "It's a big
task. I'm aware of the enormity of this," a bespectacled Johnson-Sirleaf said in
an interview at her residence this week. "But I also think that I'm up to the
task." With more than 99 percent of ballots counted Saturday, Johnson-Sirleaf
was poised for near-certain victory in Tuesday's runoff, racking up a solid 59.6
percent of the vote compared with 40.4 percent for her soccer star rival, George
Weah. Though international observers say the poll was fair, Weah has waged a
formal complaint of fraud. On Friday, despite Weah's call for calm, hundreds of
stone-throwing protesters backing him marched through Monrovia and briefly
skirmished with U.N. troops, who fired tear gas and wielded batons. Though a
return to war is unlikely with <A
href="http://www.humansecuritygateway.info/data/item601784293/view"><EM>15,000
U.N. peacekeepers on guard</EM></A>, memories of recent fighting, and fears of
more, abound. Weah's supporters include tens of thousands of former combatants,
as well as 1990s faction leader Alhaji Kromah and Sekou Conneh, who led the
rebel war that ousted warlord-turned-president <A
href="http://allafrica.com/stories/200511140140.html"><EM>Charles
Taylor</EM></A> in 2003</FONT></DIV>
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