Liberians go to the polls today to choose between candidates including a football hero, a one-time World Bank executive and a host of businesspeople and former military strongmen, all of them promising to be the one to rebuild the war-torn country and lift it from grinding poverty.

Election campaigning ended officially on Sunday with many of the 22 candidates making the rounds of Monrovia's churches, hoping to sway the undecided among the 1.3 million registered voters in the west African country of three million.

The presidential and legislative elections, mandated by a peace agreement signed by three warring factions in August 2003, aim to close the book on 14 years of conflict, which has robbed the country of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and tens of thousands of lives lost in war.

George Weah, the 1995 FIFA World Footballer of the Year and AC Milan veteran, famous for both his football prowess and unblemished reputation, is widely expected to win the poll.

He is strongly favored by the young people who make up roughly two-thirds of the electorate.

Addressing "the downtrodden masses, the deprived, misused and abused" at his final campaign rally, he promised "sustainable peace and development for all Liberians."

For many, particularly young people, Weah's distance from politics and slum-to-palace background are a draw. His critics say he's not up to leading Liberia, where less than one quarter of the country is gainfully employed.

And with little experience in a strong democracy with good leadership, many Liberians are expecting miracles from Weah, who has no administration experience and little formal education.

Many of those listening to Weah had borne arms in one or both of the civil wars to ruin Liberia since 1989, leaving the once-prosperous nation shorn of infrastructure, electricity and running water and without adequate schools or public hospitals.

Security and development have been highlighted as the top priorities of former World Bank official Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, if elected president of the war-torn West African country.

Johnson-Sirleaf, 66, nicknamed "iron lady" for her tough style in Liberian political circles, would become Africa's first female president if she wins today's elections.

"It is time for women leadership ... a woman of competence, character and courage to lead," Johnson-Sirleaf said in an interview.

If elected, Johnson-Sirleaf said she would use her experience in the financial sector to tackle the country's huge debt burden, which she put at US$3.5 billion.

"We cannot make improvement without any significant debt relief. We would have to put in place an economic policy by the end of 2006 that would address our debt burden," she indicated.

(China Daily October 11, 2005)