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 MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - Liberia's 19th president was overthrown and assassinated. His successor was executed by guerrillas who first cut off his ears. No. 21 won office after igniting a civil war but fled into exile amid a rebel assault on the capital. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf — a strong-willed, erudite, 67-year-old former finance minister — wants to be No. 23.
If her commanding electoral lead is certified, she will become Africa's first elected female head of state, one of the few in the world.
"It's a big task. I'm aware of the enormity of this," a bespectacled Johnson-Sirleaf said in an interview at her residence this week. "But I also think that I'm up to the task."
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