Africom: Liberia willing

2008-02-21 16:43

Monrovia - President George W. Bush pledged US support for Liberia in its recovery from a crippling civil war as he visited the close US ally on the last stop of a five-nation tour of Africa on Thursday.

"We want to help you recover from a horrible period," Bush told Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Monrovia, the war-damaged coastal capital of the small West African state.

Africa's first republic, Liberia was founded by freed slaves from America in 1847 and has close ties with the United States. Bush's visit was the first by a US president in three decades.

While other African countries have spurned US overtures for a greater military presence on the continent, Liberia has said it would willingly host a new continental US military command, known as Africom.

Crowds of cheering Liberians, some waving US and Liberian flags, lined the streets as the presidential motorcade passed by after Bush and his wife Laura arrived at the international airport which was guarded by US marines.

Large billboards carried the message: "President and Mrs. George W. Bush. Welcome to Liberia."

"Thank you, President Bush," Johnson-Sirleaf told the US leader at the foreign ministry, which is surrounded by tin-roofed shacks in a dilapidated capital that still bears the scars of a 1989-2003 civil war that killed 200 000 people.

Bush held talks with Johnson-Sirleaf, who took office in 2006 as Africa's first elected female leader.

He was due to speak at a US-funded military training facility where US defence contractors have been training the new Liberian army following the end of the war.

Since 2003, Washington has spent $139m to help modernise Liberia's armed forces. There are still 10 000 United Nations peacekeepers in the country.

Bush is also due to announce a donation of 1 million textbooks and desks for 10 000 Liberian school children.

The US leader in the last year of his presidency is seeking to highlight foreign policy success stories backing health, education and good governance projects on the continent.

During visits this week to Benin, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ghana, Bush has promoted his multi-billion-dollar anti-malaria and anti-Aids projects in Africa and backed efforts to solve crises in Kenya and Darfur.

Mixed feelings

With its strong links to America, Liberia has long regarded the US as its "big brother". During the Cold War, it served as the CIA's main listening post in Africa.

But there were mixed reactions to Bush's visit.

Some Liberians have complained that Washington ignored the West African country during the 1989-2003 civil war.

"What have we gained from America for the past time that we have been friends? There is nothing we can show from the relationship. America only wants to promote its own interest," said a newspaper seller, Sylvester Smith.

"I see it as a very important visit ... It will serve as a means to encourage people to come and invest in Liberia. It will erase fear among people who have been hesitating to come to Liberia," said Rebecca Togbah, a businesswoman.

- Reuters