DAKAR, Nov 7 (AFP) - Senegal's new Prime Minister Idrissa Seck named his
cabinet late Wednesday, bringing back most of the ministers who served in
the previous government.
   Seck, 43, was appointed Monday by President Abdoulaye Wade as Senegal's
eighth prime minister since it won independence from France in 1960.
   He replaces Mame Madior Boye who was sacked by Wade along with the rest
of the government in a move the media suggested was linked to a ferry
tragedy in September that cost 1,200 lives.
   The overcrowded Joola, a ship that plies the route between the southern
province of Casamance and the capital Dakar, capsized in rough seas off the
coast of Gambia -- a thin strip of a country that juts into the middle of
Senegal -- on September 26.
   In his cabinet line-up named Wednesday, outgoing foreign minister Cheikh
Tidiane Gadio was returned to his post, as were interior minister Mamadou
Niang and finance minister Landing Savane.
   But the defense ministry was handed to Becaye Diop, formerly education
minister.
   The new government has 31 members, compared to 25 for the previous Boye
administration. There are eight women in the new team.
   Among the new faces is former footballer Youssoupha Ndiaye, who becomes
sports minister.
 Seck is the third prime minister to serve under Wade, who was elected in
March 2000, beating former president Abdou Diouf and ending 40 years of
rule by the Socialist Party.
   Seck's two predecessors led the government for one year, in the case of
Moustapha Niasse, and a year and a half for Boye.

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