DAKAR, Nov 4 (AFP) - Idrissa Seck, one of President Abdoulaye Wade's
closest aides, announced Monday he had been named Senegal's prime minister
following the dissolution of the government less than two months after the
country's worst ever ferry disaster.
   Seck replaces Mame Madior Boye, who was sacked by Wade along with the
rest of the government in a move the media suggested could be linked to the
sinking of an overcrowded ferry in September that cost 1,200 lives.
   The 43-year-old who served as director of Wade's office and as number
two in his Senegalese Democratic Party must now quickly set about forming a
new government.
   In a brief statement to reporters, Seck said he was determined to lead
Senegal taking into account all its potential but also its weaknesses.
   He spoke of the two major tragic and joyous events in Senegal over the
past year -- the ferry disaster and its success in the World Cup where the
national team reached the quarter finals.
   The overcrowded Joola, a ship that plied 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.
   Wade last month accepted the resignations of the two ministers most
closely associated with the catastrophe, Transport Minister Youssouph Sakho
and Armed Forces Minister Youba Sambou.
   Boye became Senegal's first woman prime minister in March 2001 when Wade
sacked his erstwhile ally Moustapha Niasse after tensions developed between
the two men.

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