Ex-Macedonian minister to head UN General Assembly head

UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (Reuters) The UN General Assembly is set today to elect former Macedonian former foreign minister Srgjan Kerim as president for the 62nd session of the 192-member body, beginning in September.

The post, currently occupied by Sheika Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain, rotates annually by regions and Kerim was selected by Eastern European nations.

Kerim was foreign minister in 2000 and 2001 after which he served as his country's UN ambassador.

Before that he was ambassador to Germany, Lichtenstein and Switzerland and held several posts in the foreign ministry of the former Yugoslavia. Kerim, the author of nine books, holds a doctorate in international economics.

He currently is general manager for South-Eastern Europe of the German-owned WAZ Media Group.

Kerim assumes the job with his nation under a temporary name at the United Nations - the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Many nations, however, refer to it as the Republic of Macedonia.

Since 1993 when Macedonia joined the United Nations, Greece has objected to its name and constitution, saying that they were statements of territorial ambitions against Greece's northern province of Macedonia, home to 2 million Greeks.

Despite a succession of American negotiators, first former US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and now Matthew Nimitz, a former State Department official, the name dispute has not been settled.

REUTERS CS VV1318