ISRAEL: Israel's troubled opposition Labour party elected ageing peacemaker Mr Shimon Peres as its temporary chairman yesterday.
Mr Peres (79), who won a Nobel prize for a peace accord with Palestinians a decade ago but never a general election, took 49.2 per cent in Labour's Central Committee vote, easily beating two rivals.
Mr Peres will resume the helm of his left-wing party until June 2004 when a permanent chairman is to be elected to lead Labour against Mr Ariel Sharon's right-wing Likud government in the next scheduled general election in 2007. - (Reuters)