 Liberians paraded in the streets of their capital Monday holding giant pictures of a soccer star, a former rebel and other candidates at the official start of campaigning for their nation's first postwar presidential election. Twenty-two candidates were cleared to stand in the Oct. 11 vote citizens hope will lead the war-battered west African nation of 3 million people to long-term peace and development.
| I am so impressed. Only a year or two ago, Liberia was Somalia, only with more humidity. |
One of the candidates was African soccer legend George Weah. Another was Sekou Conneh, leader of the rebel group whose deadly mid-2003 siege of Monrovia helped drive former President Charles Taylor into exile.
| And Taylor's not one of the 22 running. If they're really lucky, Prince Johnson isn't, either. |
| Here's hoping Samuel Doe isn't there in spirit. |
Electoral committee head Frances Johnson-Morris shook off concerns there were too many in the race. "There are so many people who had wanted to participate in our past electoral processes and maybe they did not get the chance," she told reporters. "This is a time that everyone has the opportunity." Also in the race is Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, who lost a 1997 vote to Taylor, a former warlord who launched Liberia into crisis with his 1989-1996 insurgency. Rebels took up arms against Taylor in 2000. The new president is expected to take office in January 2006.
| The article doesn't say anything about Gyude Bryant or Moses Blah running, either. |
Once an economic model for West Africa, over a decade of strife has left Liberia in ruins, its people among the world's most impoverished. Some 500,000 people who fled their homes during the war have remained in camps despite the August 2003 peace deal that ended the latest fighting. Some 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers are overseeing the peace process and helping provide security in the country as a postwar, temporary administration arranges the vote.
| I guess there's always hope. I wish them all the luck in the world. Next time somebody tells you that violence never solves anything, tell 'em about Chuck. |
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