1986 in Afghanistan resigns from the largely ceremonial post of president of the Revolutionary Council. He is succeeded on November 24 by Haji Mohammad Chamkani, formerly first vice-president and a non-PDPA member. An extraordinary plenum of the PDPA Central Committee approves a policy of national reconciliation, involving negotiations with opposition groups, and the proposed formation of a coalition government of national unity. A cabinet reshuffle sees the elevation of Najibullah supporters Abdul Wakil and Mohammad Rafi to the posts of foreign minister and defense minister, respectively. Najibullah visits the U.S.S.R. to discuss prospects for ending the conflict in Afghanistan. 1986 in Afghanistan The
George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie House of Commons. Following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather the 1st Viscount, Younger became Member of Parliament for Ayr in 1964 and served as Margaret Thatcher's Secretary of State for Scotland for seven years. He subsequently succeeded Michael Heseltine as Secretary of State for Defence in 1986 when Heseltine resigned from the cabinet over a dispute about helicopters known as the Westland crisis. Younger quit the cabinet in 1989, and joined the Royal Bank of Scotland, becoming its chairman in 1992. He was created a life peer as Baron Younger of Prestwick of Ayr in the District of Kyle