Liberia's president to meet with Queen Elizabeth II

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf arrived Monday in Britain for a three-day visit to meet with Queen Elizabeth II as well as with government officials for talks about aid. Johnson Sirleaf, the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa 's history, greeted supporters in central London .

Photo: Liberia's president to meet with Queen Elizabeth II

She took office in January to lead one of the world's poorest countries, battered by back-to-back civil wars from 1989 to 2003 that left 200,000 people dead and 3 million of its citizens scattered abroad. On Tuesday, Johnson Sirleaf was to give a speech on the impact of war on women, during a private function at the Wilton Park Conference Center .

She was scheduled to meet Wednesday with the queen, and to hold talks with Britain 's international development secretary Hilary Benn and Lord Triesman, the minister for Africa . Johnson Sirleaf was expected to press Britain to do more to assist Liberia 's reconstruction.

"There is a huge task in front of her to deliver the governance and development agendas that will allow Liberia to turn around years of disastrous conflict and decline," a British foreign office spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity, in line with policy. Also Wednesday, she would give a public lecture to the London-based defense think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, reports the AP.

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