Former warlord Mr Charles Taylor moved closer yesterday to his dream of becoming Liberia's president.
In 1989, he launched the civil war responsible for the deaths of more than 150,000 people in the west African country that is the continent's oldest republic. He started the war to oust Master
Sergeant Samuel Doe, who broke the hold on power of the descendants of freed American slaves who founded Liberia in 1847.
"I think the Liberian people are saying to the world that we are ready for democracy . . . and that we must put violence behind us and look at the new millennium," Mr Taylor (49) said after voting in his
Congo Town stronghold in the capital, Monrovia, on Saturday.
"There is no violence now and there will be no violence after [the elections]," he added.
Yesterday Liberia's top election official said that with one-third of the potential votes counted, Mr Taylor was leading by nearly 66
per cent. Former US president Mr Jimmy Carter and other international observers said they had seen only minor irregularities during the voting. Liberians voted for a president and parliament in elections that are meant to put an end to seven years of civil war.
Mr Taylor is married with eight children, a teetotal, American educated Baptist. He describes himself as a friend of the United
States and an admirer of presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
A former civil servant, Mr Taylor is charismatic and self-assured.
He enjoyed a distinct campaign advantage over his 11 rivals with a well-oiled electoral machine backed by his own national radio station.
But the man, whose child soldiers terrorised civilians with acts of mindless cruelty during the civil war, inspires mixed emotions.
His followers say that as leader of the largest militia before disarmament finished in February, he would be the best guarantee of peace in Liberia. "He killed my father but I'll vote for him. He started all this and he's going to fix it," said one voter on
Saturday.
Critics said if he lost he would make Liberia ungovernable.
Born on January 29th, 1948, Taylor had a native Liberian mother and a father of the mixed Americo-Liberian stock. He marched into
Liberia from Ivory Coast on Christmas Eve 1989 with a band of 150
associates reputed to be Libyan-trained. Mr Taylor denies any Libyan links.
His National Patriotic Front of Liberia forces, a mix of descendants of slaves and indigenous tribes such as Mano and Gio, twice fought to the edge of Monrovia.
Twice, a Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, thwarted them - fuelling animosity between Mr Taylor and the regional giant, Nigeria, which helped perpetuate the conflict.
After well over 150,000 deaths and a bloody 1996 flare-up in
Monrovia, Liberia's neighbours finally rallied its squabbling warlords around a peace deal which held.
ECOMOG, long denounced by Mr Taylor as an occupation army, ensured peace and disarmament, making the elections possible.
During most of the war, Taylor was based in his northern stronghold of Gbarnga. He finally entered Monrovia in 1995, after signing a power-sharing agreement with his rivals.
"What I want is peace for our people. I want democracy for our people," he told a radio interviewer after a tumultuous welcome by supporters. "I love these people," he added. - (Reuter)