Walesa wins battle of wills

Warsaw - The Polish president, Lech Walesa, and the Prime Minister- designate, Josef Oleksy, agreed on Mr Walesa's nomination of Zbigniew Wojciech Okonski as Defence Minister, ending a battle of wills that had plunged the country into political crisis.

The accord, involving more concessions by the left-wing government to Mr Walesa, made it possible for Mr Oleksy to name his ministerial team but reinforced the President's claim to a role in the nominations to key ministries. AFP