SPD successor to Rau

The powerful economics minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Wolfgang Clement, will succeed Johannes Rau as premier of Germany's most populous state before the next general elections in 1998.

The Hamburg-based weekly Die Woche said Clement and Rau had reached an agreement at a meeting of state Social Democratic (SPD) party leaders last week. Mr Clement said he and Rau had settled the issue in private in May. Mr Rau is considered a leading candidate for the SPD in the 1999 presidential election. Reuters - Bonn