Dominica mourns loss of prime minister

Jet, Jan 26, 2004

* DOMINICA MOURNS LOSS OF PRIME MINISTER: Prime Minister Pierre Charles of Dominica, the country's longest-serving legislator, recently died of an apparent heart attack. The 49-year-old leader was leaving his office after an evening Cabinet meeting when he complained of chest pains and slumped over in the back seat of his car while being driven home, said Dr.

Irvin Pascal, the country's chief medical officer. Charles suffered from heart problems and recently took a three-week leave of absence. He had returned to work in mid-December. Charles was born June 30, 1954, in the village of Grand Bay in southern Dominica and first worked as a schoolteacher. He was elected to Parliament in 1985 and appointed prime minister in 2000 after his predecessor Roosevelt Douglas died of a heart attack. "It's a tremendous shock to the nation," said Tourism Minister Charles Savarin. Leaders of the Dominica Labor Party chose education minister Roosevelt Skerrit, 31, as the next leader of this Caribbean country. A wife, with whom he had two children, and one son from a previous relationship, survive Charles.