51.   US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has appealed to the ailing Zairean president to name a negotiating team or a negotiator to start talks with the rebels,

52.   Zyuganov, who lost to Yeltsin in the June-July presidential elections, has repeatedly called for the ailing Russian president to resign.

53.   Later in the day he went further, directly criticising the ailing president.

54.   President Bill Clinton on Saturday nominated investment banker James Wolfensohn as the next president of the World Bank to succeed ailing president Lewis Preston.

55.   Switzerland on Thursday granted a visa extension to Mobutu Sese Seko, the ailing Zairean president, despite strong opposition to his presence over his human rights record.

56.   The ailing president, who has prostate cancer, was absent from the first meeting Wednesday but was due to join the other heads of state early Thursday.

57.   The ailing Russian president is due to undergo a multiple heart bypass operation at the end of November.

58.   The ailing Zairean president was escorted by two police officers to his villa, informed sources said.

59.   The EU statement came amid increasing international pressure for the ailing president to step down.

60.   The news came amid increasing opposition calls for the ailing president to resign.