Moses Blah
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Moses Zeh Blah | |
23rd President of Liberia
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In office August 11, 2003 – October 14, 2003 |
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Vice President | Unknown |
Preceded by | Charles Taylor |
Succeeded by | Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf |
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Born | April 18, 1947 Toweh Town, Liberia |
Political party | National Patriotic Party |
Moses Zeh Blah (born April 18, 1947) is a Liberian political figure. He served as Vice President under President Charles Taylor and became President of Liberia on August 11, 2003, following Taylor's resignation. He served as President for two months, until October 14, 2003, when a United Nations-backed transitional government, headed by Gyude Bryant, was sworn in.
Blah was born in Toweh Town, Liberia, a Gio-speaking hamlet in north-eastern Nimba County, close to the border with the Ivory Coast. He joined with Taylor because of a shared hatred of then-president Samuel Doe, who killed his wife along with hundreds of others in an ethnic-related massacre. He trained with Taylor in a Libyan guerrilla camp and served with him as a general during Liberia's civil war in the 1990s. He held the post of ambassador to Libya and Tunisia after Taylor was elected in 1997. In July 2000 Blah was appointed as Vice President after the death of Enoch Dogolea, which many suspected was a poisoning.
As Vice President, Blah was known as a quiet and unassuming man, driving his own jeep around town rather than using a motorcade and driver, and wearing flowing African robes instead of the normal olive green military uniform. He expressed constant irritation at the bodyguards who followed him around.
In June 2003, Blah was allegedly urged by the United States to take power from Taylor while the latter was absent for peace talks in Ghana (during the course of which Taylor was also indicted by the war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone). After Taylor's return, Blah was held under house arrest for ten days, but was subsequently absolved and reinstated as Vice President.
During his two months as temporary President after Taylor's resignation in August 2003, Blah was condemned by rebel groups in the country such as Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) for his close ties to Taylor; they charged that he would simply continue Taylor's practices. Blah responded by calling the rebels "brothers" and saying "Let bygones be bygones. If there is power, we can share it."
On April 7, 2008, Blah said that he had been sent a subpoena to testify at Taylor's trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague. He said that he would testify and "speak the truth",[1] and he testified on May 14, 2008, describing child soldiers and the relationship between Taylor and Foday Sankoh.[2]
Originally trained as a mechanic, Blah is fluent in German, French and Arabic. He has many children by his wife Nettie, and many grandchildren.
[edit] References
- ^ "Former Liberian vice-president says he will testify in Taylor trial", AFP, April 7, 2008.
- ^ "Charles Taylor's former deputy testifies", Reuters (Mail & Guardian Online), May 14, 2008.
[edit] External links
- BBC News: Moses Blah Profile
- Moses Blah Background, Emily Robinson, Lehrer NewsHour Online Backgrounder
Preceded by Enoch Dogolea |
Vice-President of Liberia 2000–2003 |
Succeeded by Wesley Momo Johnson |
Preceded by Charles Taylor |
President of Liberia 2003 |
Succeeded by Gyude Bryant |
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