Monrovia: Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took the oath of office on Monday, becoming Africa's first elected woman head of state in a country torn apart by 14 years of civil war.
The 67-year-old former economist was sworn in by the country's Supreme Court chief justice Henry Reed Cooper at a Monrovia ceremony attended by thousands of people from around the west African nation and several foreign leaders.
"I, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, do solemnly swear to protect, defend and uphold the constitution of the Republic of Liberia and will conscientiously, faithfully and impartially discharge my duties to the best of my ability, so help me God," she said, her hand on the Bible.
Sirleaf last November 8 won a second round election victory against football hero George Weah, who attended the inauguration ceremony amid the throng and has dropped claims of fraud at the polls "in the national interest."
In her first speech as head of state, the veteran politician called for "solidarity" among all Liberian political parties to overcome the country's enormous difficulties, and vowed to stamp out corruption.
A quarter of a million people were killed in Liberia's wars, which played a destabilising role in neighbouring, diamond-rich Sierra Leone, now emerging from its own wars, and also spilled into conflict-divided Ivory Coast.
"Corruption, under my adminstration, will be the major public enemy. We will confront and we will fight it," Sirleaf told the thousands who had filed into the grounds of the parliament buildings.
Before she took the oath, the 64 members of Parliament elected last October were sworn in with the 30 senators in the upper house during the ceremony at the Capitol, which began with fanfares from musicians with horns and drums.
Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, John Kufuor of Ghana, Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone's Ahmad Tejan Kabbah attended.
UN chief Kofi Annan, in a statement issued in New York, extended his warmest congratulations to the new leader and commended the Liberian people for giving her "an historic mandate" through a peaceful and transparent election.
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