WORLD : Honecker Wife Out of Cabinet
East Germany fired the wife of former leader Erich Honecker as education minister today and four other senior politicians resigned, including the leaders of two political parties allied to the ruling Communists.
The moves pointed to an accelerating clear-out of politicians associated with the Honecker era and came as his successor, Egon Krenz, was on a one-day visit to Warsaw for talks with the reformist Solidarity-led government.
Margot Honecker, 62, had run the Education Ministry since 1963. Her husband had ruled East Germany from 1971 until Oct. 18, when he was dismissed as Communist Party leader for failing to satisfy mass aspirations for political reform.
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