Monrovia businessman named as Liberia’s new chief
A Monrovia businessman was chosen by Liberia’s government and rebel insurgents on Thursday to chart the country’s passage away from civil unrest and international isolation and more toward democracy and stability.
Now that dictator Charles Taylor is in exile in Nigeria, 54-year old Gyude Bryant, a heavy equipment dealer, will oversee the two-year power-sharing accord.
He is seen as a consensus maker and capable of unifying Liberia, a country ravaged by 14 years of civil war and bloodshed.
As part of the power-sharing agreement, Liberia’s government and rebels agreed not to compete for the interim government’s top positions.
Elections are set for October 2005.
“I am not too surprised because the Liberians need a neutralist and I believe I am a neutralist,” he said after the election victory was announced at peace talks in Accra, the Ghanaian capital.
“I have lived there throughout all these problems, and I see myself as a healer,” Mr Bryant told reporters.
He added: “I am not too surprised because the Liberians need a neutralist and I believe I am a neutralist.”
Mr. Taylor’s immediate successor, Liberian vice president Moses Blah, will resign in October.
