By Nora Boustany
Wednesday, March 22, 2006

When Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became president of Liberia in January, she assumed the leadership of a country that was deeply impoverished, ethnically divided and largely ruined by conflict. But it was also a country united by one desire.

"The only thing we all don't want is war," Johnson-Sirleaf told a group of Washington Post editors and reporters on Thursday. "This is a negative rallying cry. Until we find another, that is enough to proceed. We have seen it all and we don't want it."

But Liberia's peace is still fragile after 14 years of violent turmoil. So she must now use all her skills as a Harvard-trained economist and a veteran of Liberia's tumultuous politics to keep the country together and moving forward.

"I am a part of both worlds," explained the gracious, grandmotherly woman of 67, who wore a pale blue turban matched to a raw silk African outfit. "The indigenous background, I have it. The elitish professor from outside, there is that too," said the former World Bank official, often called Liberia's "iron lady."

On taking office, she acknowledged Thursday, she resisted the temptation to fire everyone in the government, notorious for corruption, and start with a clean slate. Instead, she is hoping that financial help from abroad will jump-start Liberia's economy and that a new truth and reconciliation commission will flush out lingering torment and rage from past injustices.

The commission, she said, will "investigate the roots and causes of conflict and lead to a process of forgiveness. Aggrieved parties can go and tell their stories and face their accusers. It is a cleansing process."

Johnson-Sirleaf said she had asked the United States "to use its influence to help us out, not on the basis of more dependency, patronage or long-term support. We want sanctions against our resources lifted and to keep peacekeepers there for a while. We need U.S. support in debt relief to open up the multilateral tap of assistance."

Yesterday, after lunch at the White House, she was serenaded by opera singer Denyce Graves , a U.S. cultural ambassador.

Johnson-Sirleaf acknowledged that the tasks ahead are daunting. Corruption is rampant, electricity is scarce and roads are destroyed. Thousands of former child soldiers must be sent back to school or into vocational training.

Will being a woman help? she was asked.

"Let me give you my standard response. I remind people that I am a professional and a technocrat who happens to be a woman," Johnson-Sirleaf said. "But because of my sensitivities as a woman and a mother, I am likely to be more responsive to their needs. Doors are already opening for women in Africa.

"I have been working for this for a long time," she added. "Now I have to make use of it."

Ashraf Qazi , Pakistan's former ambassador to Washington and the U.N. special representative in Baghdad since August 2004, has grown into his role as a conduit to Iraq's precarious leadership and power centers. This week, he returned here to brief Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other officials on his impressions.

A Muslim with a basic knowledge of Arabic, Qazi has had access to key spiritual and political players in Iraq. He has met in Najaf with the senior Shiite religious figure, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani , a reclusive figure who has declined to meet with any American representatives.

Qazi said Sistani, whose ideas differ from the hard-line members of Iran's Shiite theocracy, has used his moral influence to steer the country on a more moderate course, and seeks to help stem interreligious violence that has climaxed in recent weeks.

"He is not a political leader. He has told me that unless political consensus and effective leadership emerges, his voice will not carry weight in the face of more outrages," Qazi said in an interview Monday.

When a Shiite shrine in Samarra was blown up last month, Qazi said Sistani appealed to Shiite followers "not to hold entire communities responsible and urged them to spare the lives of innocents. . . . He is the most respected voice in Iraq for the Shia and among other communities, but he has indicated that this may not hold in the face of more outrageous acts."

The U.N. envoy said he had also met with Moqtada al-Sadr , a younger and more radical Shiite leader who commands the loyalty of thousands of young Iraqis. He described Sadr as an "authentic Arab" who wields tremendous influence and sees himself as providing a bridge between Iraqis and other Arabs.

Qazi said he planned to convey to Rice Sistani's fears that Iraqis may no longer heed his counsel for moderation.

"The current situation is a matter of concern and has to be addressed," he said. "There is a spreading awareness that there is very little time and that they can't allow things to drift."