OFFICIAL WHO PREDICTED YELTSIN'S OUSTER REPLACED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 23, 1993                   TAG: 9302230126
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
OFFICIAL WHO PREDICTED YELTSIN'S OUSTER REPLACED
The official responsible for aid to the former Soviet Union is being replaced after angering his bosses by predicting the ouster of Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
In announcing the replacement of Richard Armitage as humanitarian aid coordinator, State Department spokesman Joseph Snyder said Monday that the decision was unrelated to the remarks Armitage made last week during an appearance in Nashville. He also said Armitage's comments do not reflect Clinton administration views.
Snyder said the administration has been working for a month to find a replacement for Armitage, a Bush administration holdover.
Named to replace him was the current U.S. ambassador to Poland, Thomas Simons, a former director of the Office of Soviet Affairs at the State Department and a deputy assistant secretary with responsibility for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Armitage's remarks were reported Saturday by The Associated Press and generated expressions of outrage from Ambassador-at-large Strobe Talbott, who is a special adviser on Russia and the other former Soviet republics.
In remarks last Tuesday to the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies in Nashville, Armitage predicted the early ouster of Yeltsin because he is "just about at the end of his usefulness."
In response to a question, Armitage called Yeltsin a man of "enormous personal courage" but added that he lacks a "grand vision" and the ability to work well with Russia's recalcitrant legislative branch.
"Not unlike [former Soviet President Mikhail] Gorbachev, his days are somewhat numbered," Armitage said. Yeltsin's term does not expire until 1996.
Such speculation by a senior U.S. official about a key foreign leader is extremely rare, and Armitage admitted later to being "injudicious."
In Larnica, Cyprus, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said when asked about Armitage's remarks, "It's an assessment I do not agree with. I think President Yeltsin is the best opportunity the people of Russia have at the present time. We strongly support his leadership."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB