2002

LETTER N° 07

From 10 to 16 February

10

United States

Former UN ambassador (1985-89) Vernon A. Walters dies.

Profile : Vernon Anthony Walters, was born on Jan. 3, 1917, in New York City to Fredrick Walters and Laura O'Connor. When he was 6, the family moved to Europe. In the next decade, Walters attended French and British Catholic schools and learned French, Spanish, Italian and German. He would later become fluent in Portuguese, Chinese and Russian, friends said. His rare linguistic faculty and photographic memory would shape much of his career, opening doors for American intelligence and rocketing him from private in World War II to brigadier general in the 1960s. Career : Deputy Director, Central Intelligence Agency, 1972-76 ; ambassador-at-large, State Department, 1981-85 ; U.S. representative to United Nations, 1985-89 ; Ambassador to Federal Republic of Germany, 1989-91. Interpreter for Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon. Private consultant and lecturer since 1991. He never married.

11

Cook Islands

Prime Minister Terepai Maoate is ousted by a no-confidence vote. He is replaced by his deputy, Robert Woonton.

12

Cook Islands

New government :

Prime Minister Dr Robert Woonton (Manihiki) : Prime Minister's Office, Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Tourism, Marine Resources, House of Ariki, Parliament, Head of State, Police, Agriculture, Ports Authority, Airport Authority, Transport, National Disaster Management. * Deputy Prime Minister Hon Sir Geoffrey Henry KBE : Finance, Public Expenditure Review Committee and Audit (PERCA), Office of the Offshore Financial Services (OFFS), Bank of Cook Islands (BCI), Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC), Cook Islands Government Property Corporation (CIGPC), National Research and Development Institute, National Development Council, Revenue Management, Development Investment Board. * Norman George (Atiu) : Ministry of Outer Islands Development, Attorney General, Crown Law, Aponga Uira - Energy, Environment, Natural Heritage, Suwarrow, Broadcasting and Communication, Telecom and Information Services, Justice, Ombudsman, National Superannuation. * Jim Marurai (Mangaia) : Education, Culture, Human Resources, Public Service Commission. * Tom John Marsters (Palmerston): Ministry of Works, including Punanga Nui, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Recreation. * Peri Vaevae Pare : Health, Internal Affairs and Social Services. Minister Responsible for Non-Governmental Organizations.

12

OAU

Organization of African Unity: Former secretary-general (1985-89) Ide Oumarou (also foreign minister of Niger, 1983-85) dies.

13

Comoros

In a cabinet reshuffle Mohamed Ali Soilihi becomes finance minister and Assoumany Aboudou interior minister.

13

Punjab

(India)

State legislative elections. Results :

District Congress Committee (Urban) president Ved Prakash Gupta claimed that as many as 10,000 votes had been deleted from the voters' list in the Patiala Assembly seat itself.

As many as 97,983 voters had cast their votes in the Morinda Assembly constituency out of 1,38,691 voters in the polling held and the overall poll percentage in the constituency was 70.65.

14

Bahrain

The emir, Sheikh Hamad ibn `Isa Al Khalifah, proclaims himself king.

Profile : Born on January 28, 1950in Doha, Qatar. Eldest son of Sheikh `Isa, Sheikh Hamad studied in Bahrain and abroad and became a qualified helicopter pilot in 1978. Crown prince since 1964, he was defense minister and then commander of Bahrain's national guard before the creation of an army force after the island gained independence in 1971 from Britain. Emir (1999-2002). In 2002 he proclaimed himself king and his state a constitutional monarchy, and called for legislative elections, the first since the parliament was dissolved in 1975; women would be allowed to vote and run for office. Sheikh Hamad has three sons (the eldest, Sheikh Sulman, who was appointed deputy defense minister in 1995; Abdullah; and Khalifah) and two daughters.

14

Bosnia and Hercegovina

Beriz Belkic becomes chairman of the Presidency.

14

Kosovo

Michael Steiner takes office as Kosovo administrator.

Profile : Born on 28 November 1949 in Munich. 1970 - 1977 Studies of Law in Munich and Paris. 1978 First German State Examination in Law. 1978 - 1981 Assistant at Institution for International Public Law, University of Munich. 1981 Second German State Examination in Law (Qualification for Judge). 1981 Joined German Foreign Service. 1983 German Embassy Kinshsa, Zaire. 1983 - 1986 Foreign Office, Bonn. 1986 - 1989 German Permanent mission at the United Nations, New York. 1989 - 1991 German Embassy Prague. 1991 - 1992 Head of Liaison Office for German Humanitarian Aid in Zagreb. 1992 - 1994 Foreign Office, Bonn: Head of coordination unit for multilateral peace efforts. 1994 - 1995 Head of special section "International Peace Efforts in Former Yugoslavia". 1994 - 1995 German Member of the "Contact Group". Since January 1996 Principal Deputy High Representative, Sarajevo, BiH. Unmarried, no children

15

Mauritius

President Cassam Uteem resigns. Vice President Angidi Chettiar becomes president.

15

Mexico

Lázaro Cárdenas Batel is sworn in as governor of Michoacán.

Profile : A native from Jiquilpan, Cárdenas Batel began his political career in 1987, in the former Frente Democrático Nacional, a founder of the PRD (Democratic Revolutionary Party) where he assumed various charges and subsequently was elected as a federal MP in 1997 then as a senator for Michoacán in 2000. He is the grand-son of former president Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, nefew of Dámaso Cárdenas and son Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano who respectively ruled Michoacán from 1928 to 1932, from 1950 to 1956 and from 1980 to 1986. A matter of fact which was regarded as one of the main arguments by his political rivals during the campaign,who accused him of being part of "a family gang", and subsequently outpointed that "the one who'll rule the state indeed, will be his father ".

16

United States

(Dallas)

Mayoral election - 2nd round. Final results : Final results : Laura Miller (72,974) : 54.9% Tom Dunning (60,025): 45.1% .

Profil : Before being elected to the Dallas City Council in 1998, Laura spent six years as a columnist and investigative reporter for the Dallas Observer, an award-winning alternative weekly paper owned by Phoenix-based New Times, Inc., which has six other weeklies in major markets. From 1981-1986, Laura worked as a staff writer at The Miami Herald and The Dallas Morning News. Laura has won numerous awards for her weekly columns and in-depth investigative reporting. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 18, 1958 and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is married to a Dallas lawyer, state Representative Steven Wolens. They have two daughters, Alex and Lily, and a son Maxwell.

16

Albania

Albania's president approved a new government, formally ending a crisis that had threatened stability in one of Europe's poorest countries. Rexhep Meidani accepted Prime Minister Pandeli Majko's proposed Cabinet, a statement from the president's office said. The decision settled a dispute within the ruling Socialist Party that had left Albania without a government for weeks. Parliament is expected to approve the Cabinet early next week

SEE NEW GOVERNMENT NEXT WEEK