Clinton urges Liberian reconciliation

MONROVIA, Liberia, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday urged Liberia to reconcile politically, healing the wounds of its brutal 1990s civil war.

Speaking to the country's National Legislature in Monrovia, Clinton reminded lawmakers that while free elections are a vital part of democracy, it is also necessary to unite for the good of the country once they're over, the Voice of America reported.

"It is important not to let politics, which is a noble and critically essential profession, overwhelm governing," Clinton said, citing her own experience of running for the U.S. presidency and losing in the Democratic Party primaries to President Barack Obama.

"He won, and then I went to work to elect him," she said. "And then, much to my amazement, he asked me to be his secretary of state. And I must say that one of the most common questions I am asked around the world -- from Indonesia to Angola -- is, 'How could you go to work for someone you were running against?' I said, 'Because we both love our country.'"

Earlier, Clinton gave Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf a vote of confidence as she faces political opposition.

Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is investigating the country's civil war, has linked Johnson-Sirleaf to then rebel leader Charles Taylor and has recommended she be banned from political office, VOA reported.

But Clinton, speaking to reporters along with Johnson-Sirleaf at a press conference in Monrovia, indicated the United States strongly supports her government in the West African nation.