Mexican President appoints new labor minister
Mexican President Vicente Fox appointed on Friday his party colleague Francisco Salazar Saenz asthe new labor minister.

Salazar Saenz had been an undersecretary in the Labor Ministry before being promoted to replace Carlos Abascal, who has been transferred to lead the Interior Ministry, said Presidential Spokesman Ruben Aguilar.

The cabinet reshuffle came following Santiago Creel's resignation from the post of interior minister to prepare himself for running 2006 presidential elections.

Salazar Saenz is a chemical engineer from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and holds a PhD in Social Sciences of La Salle University. He was a senator from 1994 to 2000.

The ruling National Action Party (PAN) will have a hard time to repeat its victory in the 2006 presidential elections as Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) leads in opinion polls.