Liberian President Takes Oath For Second Term

Posted January 16th, 2012 at 7:20 am (UTC-5)
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Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been sworn in for her second term, after handily winning re-election in a November vote.

A VOA correspondent says U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the heads of at least four West African nations attended Monday's inauguration in the capital, Monrovia.

Mrs. Sirleaf has pledged to address economic problems in Liberia, which is still recovering from 14 years of civil war and conflict that ended in 2003.

She became Africa's first democratically elected female president in 2005, and last year was one of three women awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Clinton is on a four-nation tour of Africa that will also include stops in Ivory Coast, Togo and Cape Verde. She is scheduled to meet with leaders in each country.

A senior Obama administration official traveling with Clinton said Monday that her visit to those countries underscores the U.S. commitment to democratic governance.

Mrs. Sirleaf won more than 90 percent of the vote in a runoff against rival Winston Tubman, whose party boycotted the runoff alleging cases of fraud in the first round of voting.

International election observers have said both elections were credible.