Former warlord seeks chunk of Liberia government

SANNIQUELLIE, Liberia (Reuters) – Former rebel leader Prince Johnson said on Wednesday he wants control of 30 percent of Liberia’s government in return for his endorsement of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s re-election bid.

 

An alliance between the ex-warlord and newly-named Nobel peace laureate Johnson-Sirleaf would raise eyebrows among Liberia’s international partners, eager to see the country close the book on a bloody 1989-2003 civil war.

“We want 30 percent of the government,” he told Reuters in an interview in the capital of Nimba, his home county.

“Ministerial positions, government agencies, ambassadorial positions,” he said, without specifying.

Johnson said his NUDP party was in negotiations with Johnson-Sirleaf’s ruling UP party over the details.

A UP party official said Johnson-Sirleaf welcomed his endorsement, as well as the support of other former rebel leaders from the war.

“Her accepting them shows that she is a real peacemaker,” UP spokesman Wilmot Paye told Reuters by telephone.

Johnson won third place in Liberia’s first-round election on October 11 with about 11.6 percent, and his endorsement of Johnson-Sirleaf — who won 43.9 percent — would likely seal her victory in a run-off scheduled for November 8.

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