Belgian king to appoint Leterme as premier for a second time

Brussels - King Albert of Belgium was to appoint Yves Leterme as the country's prime minister for a second time Wednesday following the departure of incumbent Herman Van Rompuy, who is to become European Union president. Political commentators said Van Rompuy and his cabinet were expected to resign during the course of the day, so as to allow Leterme to be sworn in as the new premier.

The move follows a political deal reached earlier this week among Belgium's fragmented ruling coalition parties.

A Flemish Christian Democrat, Leterme headed the Belgian government for much of 2008 after emerging as the surprise victor of national elections in 2007. Over 800,000 voters marked him as their personal preference, a Belgian record.

But his time in office was marred by vicious political infighting between the country's Dutch-speaking majority and French-speaking minority. He resigned in December amid accusations of political meddling over the sale of troubled bank Fortis, but was later cleared of any wrongdoing.

Belgian media said the new cabinet was expected to remain largely unchanged.

As well as trying to steer Belgium towards economic recovery, one of Leterme's biggest challenges will be to find a deal on redrawing the electoral boundaries of Dutch-speaking areas around largely French-speaking Brussels.

Meanwhile, Van Rompuy was expected to visit Riga and Helsinki next week.

The trip, which he had originally planned in his capacity as prime minister, will be his first since his appointment by fellow EU leaders as the bloc's first full-time president of the European Council, a post created by the Lisbon Treaty.

While the treaty comes into force on Wednesday, Van Rompuy is not due to assume office until January.