Eisner still not safe from snipers

WALT Disney's critics, having drawn first blood in their assault on chief executive Michael Eisner, are still not satisfied and are demanding that the company draws up a plan for succession at the top.

Key shareholders claim that Eisner's removal as chairman is cosmetic, and say they will not rest until he is ousted from the company.

Eisner says he will stay on until his contract expires in 2006.

However, signalling that the heat is likely to be kept on, teacher's retirement fund Calstrs, the thirdlargest public pension fund in the US, has called for the creation of a committee of investors to monitor Disney's reforms.

'The board needs to move from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland,' said Connecticut State Treasurer Denise Nappier, who called on Disney's board to focus quickly on succession planning for top management.