MONROVIA (Reuters) – Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has ambitious plans for her second presidential term but putting them into action has been made harder by election violence and an opposition boycott which has deepened the country’s divisions.

Political deadlock between her government and the opposition would be a setback for the West African nation as it struggles to rebuild after 14 years of civil war that left it in ruins and its people mired in poverty.

MONROVIA (Reuters) – Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is hardly celebrating her impending election victory that secures her a second term in office as Liberia’s president.

“What’s there to smile about?” she said, posing for a photograph in the presidential office on Friday just before the election commission results gave her an unassailable lead. “It just means there’s work to be done.”

MONROVIA (Reuters) – Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf promised to involve opponents in her second term after winning a landslide victory in an election boycotted by her main rival over fraud allegations.

Nobel Peace laureate Johnson-Sirleaf won 90.6 percent of votes according to tallies returned from nearly 98 percent of the country’s polling stations by Friday. Full results are not due to be confirmed until early next week.

MONROVIA (Reuters) – Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has pledged to involve opponents in her second term after winning a landslide victory in a poll boycotted by her top rival over fraud allegations.

Newly-named Nobel Peace laureate Johnson-Sirleaf won 90.8 percent of votes according to tallies returned from more than 86 of the country’s polling stations. More results are due on Friday.

MONROVIA (Reuters) – Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who appears to have won re-election by a landslide, will seek to reunite the country by forming a government that includes her rivals.

The November 8 election, marred by violence and an opposition boycott, was meant to solidify the West African country’s fragile gains since 14 years of war ended in 2003.

MONROVIA (Reuters) – Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf looked set to claim a second term Liberia’s president after an election run-off boycotted by her main rival, according to votes tallied by Thursday.

Johnson-Sirleaf, who was joint winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, scored 90.8 percent with returns in from 86 percent of polling stations, election commission chairwoman Elizabeth Nelson said.

MONROVIA, Nov 10 (Reuters) – ArcelorMittal,
the world’s top steel maker, is on track to produce between 1.2
million and 1.3 million tonnes of iron ore from its Liberia mine
in 2011, exceeding a 1-million-tonne target, and does not expect
a decline in prices to impact the project’s planned expansion,
the company said on Thursday.

“We will surpass our official target, from what I see now,”
Liberia CEO Rajesh Goel told Reuters by telephone. “We hope to
produce 1.2 to 1.3 million tonnes during this year.”

MONROVIA (Reuters) – Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf may, if re-elected, offer government posts to rivals in a spirit of reconciliation after a deadly crackdown on an opposition protest, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Newly-named Nobel peace laureate Johnson-Sirleaf is tipped to win a second term in the war-scarred West African country after rival Winston Tubman dropped out of a November 8 run-off vote, alleging fraud in an October first round won by the incumbent.

MONROVIA (Reuters) – Liberia’s main opposition candidate said he might seek the annulment of a presidential run-off boycotted by his supporters, raising the prospect of confrontation in a country recovering from civil war.

Many Liberians stayed home for Tuesday’s vote, either fearful of a repeat of election-related violence earlier this week or obeying a boycott call by Winston Tubman, the main rival to incumbent Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

MONROVIA (Reuters) – Many Liberians failed to vote in a presidential run-off on Tuesday, poll observers said, some people staying away for fear of further violence and others following an opposition boycott appeal.

Voters trickled into polling stations in the capital Monrovia in much lower numbers than the first round vote last month, Reuters witnesses said. Feedback from elsewhere in the West African state also put turnout down by late-afternoon.