LETTER N° 28

From 08 to 14 July

8

Croatia

Four members of the cabinet resigned after the government's decision to send two of its citizens to the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

The four ministers who resigned were Goran Granic, deputy prime minister ; Jozo Rados, the defense minister ; Goranko Fizulic, the economy minister ; and Hrvoje Kraljevic, the science and technology minister.

8

Pakistan

The first branch of the Pak Jamhoor Party was launched here at a ceremony which was attended by 51 delegates. The meeting, presided over by Mr Masud Mufti, convener of the party, elected a seven-member working committee headed by Mr Shahid Gulzar Ahmad. Other office-bearers elected were: secretary, Mr Zafar Mahmood Khan and treasurer, Mr Munir Ahmad Akhtar. Malik Amjad Sabri, Sheikh Asghar Liaquat, Mr Farrukh Nadeem Suleri and Mr Muhammad Yusuf were elected members of the working committee.

9/11

OAU

OAU summit - LUSAKA

The 13th Ordinary Session of the Committee of Ambassadors and other Plenipotentiaries, the 74th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers, 9th Ordinary Session of the African Economic Community and the 37th OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government will be held in Lusaka, Zambia.

The Organization of African Unity was established on May 25, 1963, at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the Charter of the Organization was signed on that occasion by Heads of State and Government of 32 independent African States. Its purposes are to promote the unity and solidarity of the African States; defend the sovereignty of members; eradicate all forms of colonialism ; promote international cooperation having due regard for the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ; coordinate and harmonize Member States economic, diplomatic, educational, health, welfare, scientific and defense policies.

The OAU is currently composed of fifty-three independent African States as follows, in the alphabetical order : Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswna, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali,Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbawe.

9

OAU

Zambian President Dr. Frederick Chiluba becomes chairman.

President Chiluba was born in Kitwe in Wusakili township, on the Copperbelt on April 30, 1943. Started school at Musangu Primary School in 1952 where he did his Sub A to Std 2. For Standards 3 and 4 he transferred to Lubunda Primary School, seven kilometres from Musangu. For Senior Primary School he transferred to Johnstone Falls at Mulundu, where he did Standards 5 and 6.Primary Leaving Certificate earned him a scholarship for Secondary education at Kawambwa Secondary School. Regrettably however, while in his first year, the school erupted into unrest following political agitation. He returned home in 1964 and did a few menial jobs before enrolling in and passing a bookkeeping course with the Gordon Arlen College in Edinburgh, Scotland. With this qualification he joined Masson-Ord, a wholesale company in Ndola, in 1965 as an invoice clerk. By 1971 he had successfully completed four 'O' Level subjects including Economics and Principles of Accounts. In 1977 he obtained certificates in Credit and Collection Principles. In 1978 he obtained a certificate in Advanced Credit Analysis. In 1988 he enrolled and passed 'A' Levels in Government and Political Studies. While at State House, the President enrolled and studied for a Masters of Philosophy Degree in Political Science from Warwick University in the United States.

9

Uganda

President Yoweri Museveni is to reappoint Specioza Wandira Kazibwe as vice president for another term of five years, presidential spokeswoman Hope Kivengere said here on Monday. Kivengere said Museveni had forwarded the reappointment of Kazibwe - Ugandan vice president since 1994 - to the country's parliament for approval, before officially announcing it. Kazibwe is the first Ugandan woman to be appointed to such a high political office under Museveni's propagated women emancipation agenda.

10

U.S.A.

President Bush will nominate Mark Olson, the former head of a Minnesota bank and a past president of the American Bankers Association, as a member of the Federal Reserve Board.

10

France

Yves Cochet was assigned to the position of minister of Territory Development and Environment replacing Dominique Voynet.

Yves Cochet was born on feb. 15,1946 in Rennes. Profile : 1968 - PhD degree in mathématics. 1969 - teacher and searcher to the Institut National des sciences appliquées (INSA). 1971 - thesis.1975 to 1980 representative for Assistant-Professors in computering to the Higher Council of Universities. 1984 - November 1986 - spokesman for the Greens. Since 1986 - member of the Conseil National Inter-Régional (CNIR) of the Greens. In December 1992, he served again as spokesman for the Greens. In April 1997, national responsible for elections  1997-2001 - MP for the 7th constituency of the Val d'Oise. October 2000 - Vice-Chairman of the National Assembly.

10

OAU

Former Côte d'Ivoire foreign minister Amara Essy is elected secretary-general.

Mr. Essy was born on 20 December 1944 in Bouake, Côte d'Ivoire. Mr. Essy holds a degree in public law and a diploma of high-level studies, also in public law. He also holds a diploma from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Switzerland. He had become the Chief of the Division of Economic Relations at the Central Department of the foreign ministry of Côte d'Ivoire in 1970. From 1973 to 1975, Mr. Essy was a Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations in New York and served as a First Counsellor at the Embassy of Côte d'Ivoire in Brazil from 1971 to 1973. From 1978 to 1981, Mr. Essy was the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of C8te d'Ivoire to the Swiss Confederation at Berne, and prior to that, he served as the Permanent Representative of C8te d'Ivoire to the United Nations Office in Geneva and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna, positions to which he was appointed in 1978. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 7 August 1981 to November 1990, functioning concurrently as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Côte d'Ivoire in Argentina and Cuba with residence in New York. As Côte d'Ivoire's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mr. Essy served as Vice-President of the forty-third session of the General Assembly from September 1988 to September 1989 and as President of the Security Council in January 1990. He was also Chairman of the "Group of 77" of developing nations in Geneva from January 1977 to January 1978.

10

Indonesia

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has reshuffled his cabinet. He's named Justice Minister Marsilam Simanjuntak as the new attorney general and replaced him with Defence Minister Mohammad Mahfud. According to a presidential spokesman, the defence portfolio has been taken over by security minister Agum Gumelar, who also retained his current position. The reshuffle was prompted by the sudden death in Saudi Arabia last week of former attorney general, Baharuddin Lopa.

10

El Salvador

Former president (1982-84) Álvaro Alfredo Magaña Borja dies.

He was born in Ahuachapán, El Salvador,on October 8,1925. He holds a Doctorate degree in Law and Social Sciencefrom the Law Faculty of the Université of El Salvador. He holds a Master's degree in Economics from Chicago University, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A and a post-graduation degree in Economícs and Finance from Rome University , Italy. The main positions he 's held were : Deputy secretary for Finance , 1960-1961, Assistant to the Head of the Department for Económic Affairs of the Panamerican Unión ( OEA) 1961-1965, Executive Manager of the joint program of OEA/BID/CEPAL, 1961 - 1965, Chairman of the Banco Hipotecario in El Salvador , 1965-1982, Manager of the Central Bank of Reserve of El Salvador, 1976-1982, Assistant to the Monetary Assembly and Member of the Economic Committe in the Ministerial field, 1972-1977 and 1980-1982. He assumed the position of President of the Repúblic from 2° May 1982 to 1° June 1984.

11

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's opposition closed ranks to battle with President Chandrika Kumaratunga after she suspended parliament to prevent a collapse of her minority government. Kumaratunga halted parliament at midnight to avoid a no-confidence vote against her shaky coalition and called a nationwide referendum on a new constitution and revised electoral system.

11

Burundi

Breaking a deadlock in Burundi peace efforts, the country's political parties have agreed to let President Pierre Buyoya lead the government for 18 months, former South African President Nelson Mandela said.

11

Bangladesh

Jatiya Sangshad (Parliament) Speaker Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury breathed his last Tuesday night following massive cardiac arrest, barely three days before the dissolution of the current Parliament.

Rasheed Chowdhury is born on March 1, 1936 in Jessore.After graduation from the Aligarh Muslim University in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science degree, he studied for the English Bar and was a member of the Inner Temple, London. At the London Institute of World Affairs (which was affiliated to the University of London) he obtained a diploma in international affairs. During his diplomatic career he held various assignments in Rome, Baghdad, Paris Lisbon, Jakarta and New Delhi. He served as the Chief of the Bangladesh Mission in New Delhi in 1971-1972 during which he negotiated the Bangladesh recognition of Bangladesh with over 40 countries. He was the first Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1972, a post he held until 1976 having concurrent accreditation to Switzerland, Austria and the Holy See. He was also the first Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). In May 1986, he was elected a member of the Bangladesh Parliament. Elected President of the Forty-first session of the General Assembly has been his country's Foreign Minister since 3 July 1985. Mr. Choudhury is fluent in Bengali, English, Urdu, French and Italian, and has a working knowledge of Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Bahasa Indonesia.

11

United Kingdom

Labour MPs have elected the first woman to act as their "shop steward" representing the views and concerns of backbenchers to the party leadership. Jean Corston MP won 183 votes in the ballot to become chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, beating former Foreign Office Minister Tony Lloyd, who polled 167 votes.

Jean Corston born in 05 May 1942, is a barrister. Education : Yeovil Girls' High School Open University London School of Economics Inns of Court School of Law. Political career : Constituency Organiser 1974-76. Regional Women's Organiser 1976-80. SW Regional Organiser 1980-85. Head of Department, The Labour Party, London 1985-86. MP for Bristol East since 1992. Chair of the Human Rights Committee. Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (2001 - date). Vice Chair PLP (1997 - 2000). PPS to David Blunkett MP (1997 - 2000).

11

Bulgaria

Officially Simeon Saxe-Coburgotski II, but now widely referred to as plain Mr Coburgotski, he will be the first exiled monarch in eastern Europe to regain power, following his party's unanimous approval of his candidature and the agreement of the president, Petr Stoyanov.

Party leaders said he would form a new government within 10 days. The constitutional ruling left him with little choice but to form his own political party, the National Movement for Simeon II, a motley crew of young intellectuals, business figures and celebrities who promised to transform Bulgaria with radical economic decisions, new ideas and new leaders. His first task will be to form a coalition government. The candidates include the former government party, the Union of Democratic Forces, and the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

11

Rwanda

Emmanuel Ndabahizi Rwanda's former finance minister, was arrested by Belgian police in Verviers, eastern Belgium. The arrest was based on an international arrest warrant issued by the Arusha-based ICTR. He will have to answer to charges of genocide, incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity.

12

Haiti

Former military dictator Paul Eugène Magloire, who ruled Haiti from 1950 to 1956, has died.

While serving as an army general, Magloire ousted president Dumarsais Estime in 1950. The early years of his rule were what many consider Haiti's golden age, when tourism was at its peak and when Haitian coffee exports drew high prices. But a 1954 hurricane inflicted heavy damage on the economy and he was ousted by the military two years later. He took exile in New York, only returning to Haiti after the 29-year father-and-son dynasty of the Duvaliers ended in 1986. He served as adviser to Lt.-Gen. Henry Namphy, who ruled Haiti briefly in 1988. After that he kept a low profile, never making public comments and appearing seldom in public. He never published memoirs and had gone blind in recent years.

13

Nepal

Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Paudel resigned following differences with the Prime Minister and due to the deteriorating political situation, he said.

13

Beirut

Arab parties conference voices support for Arab causes.

The third conference of the Arab parties was attended by parties from Syria, Tunisia, Jordan, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Palestine, Libya, Morocco, Yemen and Lebanon.

The third conference of the Arab parties which was held in Beirut under the slogan " the session of the al-Aqsa Intifada" has stressed the stand of the Arab parties in support of Syria in order to liberate its territories in the Golan and its confrontation of the attempts made to undermine its will.

THIS WEEK'S STORY

July 14, 1789

Take over of the Bastille.Although it was a mere peripetia in the history of the French Revolution, it has stood for a symbol. The popular insurrection, the first appearance of the people of Paris on the revolutionary stage was due to Necker's dismissal by King Louis XVI on July 11, 1789. At first there was some agitation around the Palais-Royal where soap-box orators among which stood Camille Desmoulins harangued the mob and announced a «Saint-Barthélemy for patriots». The uprising outburst on July 12, following a charge of the Royal-German in the jardins des Tuileries. On the next day, voters of the General States met in the City Hall and elected a standing commission, a municipal government entrusted with victualling the town and maintaining order owing to a «civic militia». On July 14, a gang headed to the old Bastille fortress where the king had evil subjects imprisonned by an order under his private seal, to fetch weapons. Following a misunderstanding or a provocation, the rioters assaulted the Bastille which was defended by a bunch of Swiss and invalids. Governor de Launey was massacred.Then the king capitulated. On July 16, he called Necker back, and on July 17 he granted his recognition to the new Parisian government, the Baillif- Mayor and the Commander of the national Guard, La Fayette.The Bastille didn't really deserve the rank of a symbol for monarchic despotism : in fact it only housed 7 prisonners then ; but «July 14, 1789 has remained in history as a symbolic date, when the people first appeared stronger than the kings » (Mistler). On July 14, 1790, the demolition of the fortress was completed and people danced on its site. In 1880, July 14 was proclaimed national day.

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