February 16
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Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has become the country's youngest ever premier. At the age of 32, he has been sworn in as Prime Minister in the Cabinet Room of the Presidential Palace in Havana. Dr Castro led the resistance against the seven-year military rule of President Fulgeneio Batista and commanded the 26 July Army - a 10,000 strong guerrilla force - that drove the old regime into exile on New Year's Day. But this is the first time he has assumed administrative responsibilities within the new, provisional government. Cuban newspaper 'Revolution' - regarded as the voice-piece of the 26 July Army - explained his appointment is to solve the problem of "a dispersal of power", as many workers and industries have observed Castro's pronouncements and not the government's since the revolution. According to the newspaper, "now the government, the revolution and the people will take the same path." Dr Castro was on leave from his previous post as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces when Dr Jose Miro Cordoba - prime minister since 5 January - and his cabinet resigned, without explanation, two days ago. As well as his supporters, a hoard of Cuban and foreign media witnessed Fidel Castro being sworn into office wearing his olive-green rebel army fatigues and sporting his trademark square cap and beard. He told them: "We have great plans and we suffer when we cannot put these into effect rapidly, but technical preparations take time." He also denied he had any interest in taking over as president, saying legal moves to lower the age of eligibility for the post last week were the initiative of theincumbentpresident Manuel Urrutia Lleo. President Urrutia and Prime Minister Castro are old allies and are expected to work together to achieve revolutionary aims of economic reform and improved living standards for all Cubans. It took place near the town of Podujevo in northern Kosovo, 40km (25 miles) north-east of the capital Pristina. The remote-controlled bomb was detonated 400m from the road at around noon, hitting the first of five buses which had just crossed the border into Kosovo from the city of Nis in Serbia. 'Ethnic cleansing' Gorica Stjepanovic, 24, who survived the attack with eye injuries, said: "All of a sudden, everything burst, the bus seemed to have fallen apart. "Blood was dripping from the roof. When I managed to get out, parts of bodies were everywhere." The group of Serbs, who moved to Serbia fearing ethnic Albanian attacks, were travelling to the village of Gracanica in Kosovo to visit family graves. The Orthodox Day of the Dead - 17 February - is when Serbs remember their dead. The attack has sparked violent protests from the victims' relatives in Gracanica, who have blocked the main road into Pristina and set vehicles on fire. The convoy was accompanied by five Swedish armoured vehicles which were unaffected. Leaders of Kosovo's Albanian majority condemned the latest attack and said it was a serious blow to attempts to build peace. Nato called the killings "premeditated murder". Its Secretary General George Robertson said: "Nato did not conduct its air campaign in order to see ethnic cleansing by one group replaced by the ethnic attacks and intimidation of another." The Yugoslav Government also condemned the attack and has declared a day of national mourning for the victims. Earlier this week United Nations police came under attack in the town of Strpce after a Serbian man died while travelling in a UN convoy. |
