Moses Blah

Moses Zeh Blah (born April 18, 1947) was named President of Liberia on August 11, 2003, following the resignation of Charles Taylor. He served as president for two months, until October 14, 2003, when a UN-backed transitional government, headed by Gyude Bryant, was sworn in.

Blah 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 guerilla 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 did make reconciliation attempts during the short time, calling the rebels "brothers" and saying "Let bygones be bygones. If there is power, we can share it."

Originally trained as a mechanic, Blah is fluent in German, French and Arabic. He has many children and grandchildren by his wife, Nettie.

External links

• BBC News: Moses Blah Profile
• Moses Blah Backgrounder, Emily Robinson, Lehrer NewsHour Online Backgrounder