WORLD BRIEFING / ICELAND
Times Wire Reports
Prime Minister Geir Haarde called for national elections in May, making his government a dramatic victim of the financial calamity gripping much of the globe.
Haarde, faced with mounting daily protests because of Iceland’s economic problems, said he would step down as leader of the Independence Party and would not seek re-election because doctors found a malignant tumor in his throat last week.
Haarde, 57, said his health problems require immediate surgery abroad but that he was optimistic he would recover.
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