Monrovia, Oct 14: Cheered by crowds of supporters and UN peacekeepers, Gyude Bryant returned home to take over Liberia's interim government and begin the daunting task of leading the country out of 14 years of bloodshed and into elections in 2005. Bryant, a longtime civilian campaigner against Liberia's warlords, returned to Monrovia from Accra, Ghana, to take the oath of office early today as chairman of a two-year interim administration, part of a peace agreement that saw former dictator Charles Taylor leaving a country in ruins for exile in Nigeria in August.
Masses of joyous people flooded the streets of Monrovia to welcome Bryant's arrival yesterday, singing, "We love you! Oh, Bryant!" "We're going to have peace. We already have it!" shrieked Susan Kulue, a 40-year-old among 500 handkerchief-waving women in white headscarves and white dresses flocking to greet the new leader in the decayed, bullet and mortar-blasted capital.
Just two months ago, the city was filled with drunken men and boys carrying ak-47s, terrified refugees, shrapnel and the dead. Thousands also streamed toward a Monrovia church where Bryant made one of his first stops, joining a prayer service for the bloodied nation. Bureau Report