Heads Of State

Nigeria got a new president Tuesday, and like most of his predecessors since the country's independence from Britain in 1960, the new commander in chief wears the green khaki of the military. But those who know Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar say he differs from the others in a potentially momentous way: The soft-spoken career soldier apparently didn't want the job.

President Clinton and 33 other heads of state will gather this weekend in an unprecedented effort to create the world's largest free-trade zone and economically integrate the Western Hemisphere. The two-day Summit of the Americas, which opens Saturday in Santiago, Chile, is the first time in more than three years that leaders representing the hemisphere's 800 million people have met under one roof. And trade, not surprisingly, is the magnet that's drawing them together.

If there is one thing that really annoyed Belarussian President Alexander G. Lukashenko, it was having to share the grounds of his presidential compound with foreigners. Western ambassadors, invited by Lukashenko's predecessor, lived in houses scattered all over the president's mini-Camp David. Right across his fence was the home of U.S. Ambassador Daniel Speckhard, who offended Lukashenko even more by inviting dissidents to dinner.

At his drink stand tucked at the edge of a shantytown, Papajana, 47, does his small part to contribute to the fortunes of Indonesia's first family, one of the world's wealthiest. Every time Papajana sells a pack of clove cigarettes or a bottle of water, flicks on the light or the television or makes a telephone call, one of the children of Indonesia's president gets a little richer. President Suharto and his six children have an estimated net worth of $40 billion.

Glossing over growing international skepticism and their own history of failing to keep promises, the presidents of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia pledged new steps Wednesday to assure free, fair elections in Bosnia next month and agreed to abide by the results. U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who presided over the daylong Balkan summit, said the meeting "moved us a little closer to our goal of a unified, democratic Bosnia at peace."

The Prince of Wales toured this wintry gateway to Canada's agricultural heartland Thursday during a weeklong trip to Canada that many are treating as a Canadian audition by the heir to the throne. Media treatment of the visit repeatedly has referred to Prince Charles as "the man who would be king of Canada," and more than a few Canadians are ready to put a question mark at the end of that phrase.

When President Clinton wanted to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres before the opening Wednesday of the historic antiterrorism summit in this sunny Red Sea resort, he had to wait in line. Peres was being buttonholed by some other prominent figures: the president of Egypt, a sheik from Bahrain and the kings of Morocco and Jordan.

Former President George Bush will meet with Mikhail S. Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher and Brian Mulroney, all of whom led their nations during the end of the Cold War, for a two-day forum this fall. The gathering, dubbed "A World Transformed," is set for Oct. 8-9 in Colorado Springs, Colo. It will be open to 100 guests at a cost of $5,000 each, Bush said. Proceeds will benefit the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation and the Washington-based Forum for International Policy.

Prime Minister Paul Keating, unveiling his blueprint for a republic, said Wednesday that Australia must ditch Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as head of state before it can truly be independent. "It is the government's view that Australia's head of state should be an Australian and that Australia should become a republic by the year 2001," Keating told Parliament. Keating said Australians would decide by referendum in 1998 or 1999 whether to dump the monarch in favor of a nonpolitical president.

A world weary of terrorist attacks reacted with horror to the deadly car bombing that gripped America's seemingly insulated heartland with a strange new fear. Israel's prime minister sent a message to President Clinton expressing sorrow over the Wednesday bombing, which devastated a federal office building in Oklahoma City. The blast was big news throughout the Middle East, which has suffered dozens of similar attacks.