No. 11, 16 January 1991

BALTIC STATES





FUNERAL IN VILNIUS. The funeral of 10 of the 14 people killed
by the army assault on the television tower on January 13 was
held today in Vilnius. A funeral Mass began at noon local time
in the Archcathedral of Vilnius and it was broadcast live over
Lithuania Radio (formerly Radio Kaunas, stepping in for now-silent
Radio Vilnius). The dead will be buried in the cemetery in Antakalnis,
not in Rasu Cemetary as announced earlier. The other Lithuanian
dead will be buried today in their home towns of Marijampole,
Kedainiai, and Rokiskis, while the body of the Soviet soldier
was given to the military. (Saulius Girnius)

LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR DELAY OF GULF WAR. Yesterday
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Algirdas Saudargas, the delegated
head of a Lithuanian government in exile, flew from Warsaw to
London. He told reporters that the West should postpone the start
of the Gulf war, since the Soviet military appeared to be taking
control of the USSR and it was not clear whether Gorbachev was
really in charge. Saudargas said "no one knows what side the
Soviets will be on should war break out." He met with Foreign
Office Minister Douglas Hogg and is scheduled to meet with British
Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd this morning. Danish Foreign Minister
Uffe Ellemann-Jensen said that his government would allow Lithuania
to establish a government in exile in Denmark if needed. (Saulius
Girnius)

MANY LITHUANIANS STILL MISSING. Deputy Chairman of the Lithuanian
Supreme Council Kazimieras Motieka and Director of the National
Defense Department Audrius Butkevicius told the parliament yesterday,
broadcast live over Radio Kaunas, that 57 people are still missing
after the army assault on the television tower. Motieka said
that the authorities have films of large bags that could contain
bodies being removed from the tower. The bags were taken to the
airport and flown out. Responding to claims that some Lithuanians
might still be barricaded in the tower, TASS on January 15 quoted
the TV tower's security chief Alexander Subbotin as saying that
there were no "home guard members inside" the tower. (Saulius
Girnius)

FEDERATION COUNCIL DELEGATION LEAVES LITHUANIA. The delegation
of the USSR Federation Council sent to Lithuania to investigate
the situation there flew back to Moscow yesterday. A Lithuanian
request that they do not leave until another delegation replaces
them was partially met. Motieka told the RFE Lithuanian Service
this morning that a delegation of three Soviet parliamentarians
had arrived in Vilnius. (Saulius Girnius)

CHURKIN ON LITHUANIA. In his briefing yesterday, Soviet Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Vitalii Churkin defended the USSR's handling
of Lithuania. "In political affairs, especially at critical times,
there are moments when you have to make a choice not between
good and bad but between bad and worse," TASS reported. Churkin
also expressed the hope that "the outside world will demonstrate
what is needed today perhaps more than ever before--a balanced
approach based on a constructive and objective analysis of facts."
(Suzanne Crow)

TV DISTORTS LITHUANIAN DEBATES IN PARLIAMENT. At the USSR Supreme
Soviet session of January 15, some deputies protested "the lack
of objectivity" in Soviet television's coverage of the body's
debates. Radio Rossiya yesterday quoted the deputies as saying
that Soviet television broadcast only those speeches that reflected
the official point of view. The deputies reportedly demanded
full coverage of the Supreme Soviet's sessions. In covering the
Supreme Soviet's January 14 discussion of the events in Lithuania,
central television carried speeches of Boris Pugo, Dmitrii Yazov,
and Gorbachev at least three times. In contrast, not a single
deputy who lambasted the Vilnius violence in the USSR Supreme
Soviet on January 14 was shown in any of these three reports.
(Julia Wishnevsky)

NEVZOROV'S VIEW ON LITHUANIA FOR THE ALL-UNION AUDIENCE. The
USSR Supreme Soviet voted this morning to repeat for the all-Union
audience yesterday's Leningrad TV show by Aleksandr Nevzorov,
"600 Seconds," which was devoted to the events in Lithuania.
The resolution was approved by 400 deputies, with 4 opposed.
According today's television news service, Nevzorov's program
will be repeated tonight on the first channel of the Soviet TV
immediately after the main newscast, "Vremya". (Julia Wishnevsky)


LENINGRAD STRIKE TO SUPPORT LITHUANIANS. Deputies of the Leningrad
City Soviet have appealed to Soviet workers to declare a two-hour
strike today to protest the violence in Lithuania. Yesterday's
"Vremya" newscast spent some twenty minutes criticizing the appeal,
thus ensuring that the workers would be informed about it. (Julia
Wishnevsky)

SOVIET WEATHERMEN STRIKE IN PROTEST. Workers at the central Soviet
weather forecasting office say they will issue no forecasts today
or tomorrow as a protest against the use of force in Lithuania
and reactionary trends in the USSR. Radio Moscow called the action
"a political strike." (NCA) OB PATRIARCH ALEKSII ON LITHUANIA.
TASS quoted on January 15 Izvestia of the same day which published
a statement by Patriarch Aleksii on the situation in Lithuania.
Patriarch Aleksii expressed his deep sorrow and appealed to Lithuanians
as well as to "governmental structures" to realize the failures
committed by both sides. The Patriarch stated that the use of
military force in Lithuania was "a significant poOBtical mistake,
in church language - a sin". The Church leader also warned that
a situation similar to that in LithBania is developing in many
other parts of the country. (OxanB Antic)

ALEKSII DENIED ADVOCATING PRESIDENTIAL RULE. Last December, Patriarch
Aleksii joined 52 other leading Soviet personOOBties in signing
a letter urging Soviet President Gorbachev to implement presidential
rule in "zones of major conflict," a reference widely believed
to be to the Baltic states. Aleksii later denied having signed
the letter, according to AFP of December 19. (Riina Kionka)

MOLDAVIANOB MOURN LITHUANIAN DEAD. Thousands of people participated
in a rally in central Kishinev yesterday to mourn those killed
and injured in the Soviet crackdown in Vilnius. Moldavian Orthodox
priests said prayers for the dead. Several Moldavian Supreme
Soviet deputies delivered funeral orations in which they warned
that Moldavia faced similar dangers. Lithuanian flags were prominently
displayed by the Moldavian crowds. (Vladimir Socor).

UKRAINE AND LITHUANIA. At an extraordinary session held Monday
to discuss the events in Vilnius, the Presidium of the Ukrainian
Supreme Soviet unanimously condemned the use of force against
any nation and said that the Presidium supports the legally elected
bodies of the republics. In an interview yesterday with Radio
Kiev-3, the chairman of the Presidium, Leonid Kravchuk, insisted
that disputes between sovereign republics be settled in accordance
with international laws that govern human rights and the inadmissibility
of force. Kravchuk said that by coming to the aid of the unconstitutional
Committee of National Salvation the Soviet army had perpetuated
lawlessness. (Kathy Mihalisko)

CENTRAL ASIAN SUPPORT FOR LITHUANIA. RFE/RL has learned that
a number of informal groups and political parties organized a
demonstration in support of Lithuania on January 13. According
to an independent journalist in Frunze, the "Democratic Kyrgyzstan"
opposition movement has scheduled a rally today in Frunze's main
square to express support for the Lithuanian government and to
condemn the Soviet military action there. (NCA/Kazakh and Kirgiz
BDs/Bess Brown)

ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATION IN RIGA. Crowds--estimates range
from 4,000-10,000--gathered in the ASK sports stadium yesterday
iB Riga to demand that the Latvian Supreme Council and the government
step down and that, until a new government is formed anB new
elections are held, Latvia be ruled by the All-Latvian PBblic
Salvation Committee. Among the speakers, according to Radio Riga
of January 15, were Latvian Communist Party leader ABfreds Rubiks,
Colonel Viktors Alksnis, and Father Alexei Zotov (a deputy of
the Latvian Supreme Council). Father Zotov urged restraint and
problem-solving through dialogue rather than confrontation; the
audience whistled and showed no tolerance for his views. (Dzintra
Bungs)

SOVIET SOLDIEROB REJECT KUZMIN'S ULTIMATUM. Radio Riga reported
on January 15 that over 200 soldiers, based in Dobele and Adazi,B
Latvia, had signed a statement protesting the ultimatum to Bhe
Latvian government and Supreme Council of their chief, Colonel
General Fedor Kuzmin, commander of the Baltic military district.
(See yesterday's DR). They urged soldiers not to turn their guns
against unarmed civilians: "Stop. Do not kill. Democracy will
conquer." The statement may have been inspired by Boris Yeltsin's
earlier appeal to Soviet soldiers not engage in violent actions
against the Baltic population. (Dzintra Bungs)

COMMUNISTS ISSUE ULTIMATUM TO ESTONIA. Pro-Moscow Supreme Council
deputies issued an ultimatum to the Estonian Supreme Council
yesterday, Estonian Radio reported. The group demanded that the
USSR and ESSR constitutions be restored, that the government
resign and be replaced with a cabinet corresponding to republic
nationality proportions, that the Supreme Council disperse, and
that prices return to their pre-October levels. If the demands
are not met within 24 hours, the deputiesOBpromised that a "coordinating
committee" would arrange "protest sanctions" using "all available
means," including a strike set for Thursday. (Riina Kionka)

ESTONIA ACTS TO DEFUSE TENSION. Estonia's Prime Minister Edgar
Savisaar and President Arnold Ruutel say that demands issued
yesterday by anti-independence protesters are unrealistic. AP
quotes Savisaar as saying, "We just cannot meet them." But in
partial response to protesters' demands that prices be returned
to last year's levels, the Estonian Supreme Council yesterday
suspended any new price increases. Government spokesmen told
Western agencies that the suspension was a political move intended
to defuse a tense situation. (Riina Kionka)

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL? An estimated 5,000-10,000 pro-Moscow supporters
protested OBice increases yesterday in Tallinn, Estonian Radio
reported last night. The demonstrators also called on the government
to resign and the Supreme Council to disperse (see above iteB).
The rally drew far fewer people than expected, and ended peaceably.
(Riina Kionka)

ESTONIA, RUSSIA SIGN BILATERAL AGREEMENT. The Republic of Estonia
and the RSFSR signed an economic-political agreement on January
12, the Estonian Foreign Ministry reported that day. Under the
terms Bf the agreement, the two parties recognize each other's
sovereignty. The agreement, under negotiation since last summer,
is the first such treaty between the Russian Federation and a
Baltic state. It has been followed by a similar agreement between
Latvia and the RSFSR (see below). (Riina Kionka)

ESTONIA RATIFIES RSFSR ACCORD. The Estonian Supreme Council voted
yesterday 70 to 10, with 4 abstentions, to ratify the economic-political
accord signed by the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation
on January 12. The agreement's main tenet is mutual recognition
of each other's inalienable right to independent statehood. (Riina
Kionka)

LATVIAN-RSFSR ACCORD SIGNED. Radio Riga reported on January 14
that the Latvian and RSFSR heads of state, Anatolijs Gorbunovs
and Boris Yeltsin, have signed an agreement of cooperation between
the two republics. Initial reports indicate that this was a political
agreement that recognizes the sovereignty of each signatory state
and would be effective for 10 years. The agreement was endorsed
in Tallinn on January 13. (Dzintra Bungs)



USSR--ALL-UNION TOPICS





DEPUTY SAYS GORBACHEV MUST HAVE KNOWN OF CRACKDOWN. The acting
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Defense and State Security Committee
told reporters in Potsdam yesterday that Gorbachev must have
know of the Soviet military crackdown in Vilnius last Sunday.
Leonid Sharin said that he could not imagine a president having
no knowledge of such an operation. "I believe that Gorbachev
is kept informed of such events," he said. Sharin defended the
operation that left fourteen dead and over 160 wounded. (NCA/Stephen
Foye)

GORBACHEV ROUNDS ON YELTSIN. In a furious speech to the USSR
Supreme Soviet yesterday, Mikhail Gorbachev criticized the actions
of the Baltic leaders and turned on RSFSR leader Boris Yeltsin
for suggesting the RSFSR might set up its own army. Red with
anger, Gorbachev called the idea "a gross violation of the Soviet
constitution" and "a deliberate act of provocation." Yeltsin,
who resigned last year from the USSR Supreme Soviet, was not
present. Shown on Soviet television last night, Gorbachev's speech
occupied most of the "Vremya" evening newscast. (NCA/Elizabeth
Teague)

CABINET APPOINTMENTS. The USSR Supreme Soviet yesterday approved
Gorbachev's nomination of Boris Pugo as minister of internal
affairs. On Monday, it approved Gorbachev's nomination of four
deputies to serve under USSR prime minister Valentin Pavlov.
These include two first deputy premiers: Vitalii Doguzhiev (55),
who held the post of deputy premier in the outgoing government
of Nikolai Ryzhkov; and Vladimir Velichko (53), minister of heavy-machine
building. As deputy premiers, Gorbachev nominated Yurii Maslyukov
(53), chairman of USSR Gosplan; and Nikolai Lavyorov (60), who
also held the rank of deputy premier under Ryzhkov. Gorbachev
said he had considered nominating former minister of internal
affairs Vadim Bakatin as first deputy premier, but that the Federation
Council had preferred the candidacy of Doguzhiev, who is an Adygei.
Gorbachev added that, on the recommendation of the Federation
Council, he would be appointing two more deputy prime ministers:
one from Kazakhstan or a Central Asian republic, the other from
Belorussia or Ukraine; the latter would have the agriculture
portfolio. (Elizabeth Teague)



DEMOCRATIC RUSSIA CALLS FOR POLITICAL STRIKE. A plenum of the
Democratic Russia movement, attended by 130 delegates representing
some 400,000 supporters, opened yesterday with speeches from
Yurii Afanas'ev and Gavriil Popov. As reported by Radio Rossiya
yesterday, Afanas'ev called for the formation, on the basis of
inter-republican agreement, of a government structure parallel
to the USSR Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers. Popov told
the delegates that Democratic Russia's most important task is
the creation of a multi-million member party organized at the
grassroots level. The delegates also called for an RSFSR-wide
political strike, to be held today, to protest "the military
adventures of the central government" in Lithuania. (Dawn Mann)


RSFSR MAY INTRODUCE EXECUTIVE PRESIDENCY. The RSFSR Supreme Soviet
is to consider establishing an executive presidency. TASS said
yesterday that the presidium of the RSFSR legislature has decided
to place the issue on the agenda when the Supreme Soviet convenes
a new session on January 29. At present, Boris Yeltsin is chairman
of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation. He is sometimes
referred to as "President," but he does not have either the title
or the executive powers of a president. Yeltsin has spoken of
the possibility of moving to a presidential system for the RSFSR;
he has also promised that, if he runs for such a post, it will
be in an election held by universal suffrage. (NCA)

KUZBASS MINERS THREATEN STRIKE, ADVANCE POLITICAL DEMANDS. Coalminers
in the Kuzbass region of Western Siberia have voted to hold a
political strike on Friday (January 18). Radio Moscow said yesterday
that the miners are angry that the authorities have not honored
pledges made to them in 1989. The miners' strike committees are
now demanding the resignation of President Mikhail Gorbachev,
the disbanding of the USSR Congress of People's Deputies, nationalization
of Communist Party property, and depoliticization of the judiciary.
The Soviet news agency Postfactum (cited by DPA) reported yesterday
that the miners' committees were also demanding an investigation
into "the tragic events in Lithuania" and withdrawal of Soviet
troops from Lithuania. (NCA)



MFA ON SOVIET CITIZENS IN IRAQ. Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman
Vitalii Churkin said yesterday there are now 235 Soviet nationals
in Iraq. There are 52 staff members of the embassy, other missions
and journalists; 72 are working for the Soviet ministry of foreign
economic relations; and 111 are servicing Soviet equipment. Churkin
notes specifically that the last group is "staying of its own
volition." Churkin said that all Soviet military specialists
are out of Iraq, but added the qualifier: "according to the Soviet
foreign ministry's information," TASS reported. (Suzanne Crow)


STATUS OF SOVIET EXPERTS IN IRAQ. The status of Soviet experts
in Iraq (including non-military specialists) is unclear. As recently
as December 18, 1990, Soviet authorities reported that about
1,000 Soviet specialists wished to remain in Iraq and another
2,300 were having trouble obtaining the necessary papers from
the Iraqi authorities to leave the country. Initially, the Soviet
Foreign Ministry discussed the progress of negotiations with
Iraq on breaking the USSR's contracts. However the result of
the negotiations--specifically how the USSR intends to compensate
Iraq for breach of contract--has not been disclosed. (Suzanne
Crow)

ATTITUDE OF GENERALS TO IRAQ. Fyodor Burlatsky wrote last week
in Literaturnaya gazeta that many Soviet generals retain a "staggering
friendliness" towards Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Burlatsky
said many of them were nostalgic for the era when Iraq had been
Moscow's main arms client and home for hundreds of Soviet military
advisors. (Suzanne Crow)

IRAQIS ATTACK PROTESTERS IN MOSCOW. Reuter reported yesterday
that Iraqi diplomats rushed out of their Moscow embassy and attacked
a group of Soviet Jews protesting Baghdad's stance in the Gulf
crisis. The four diplomats reportedly seized the demonstrators'
placards, tore them up, and lashed out at the protesters. Soviet
police guarding the embassy reportedly did not intervene. The
demonstrators, regrouped to fight back and the diplomats went
back inside the embassy. Meanwhile, a Russian nationalist organization
demonstrated outside the US embassy in Moscow on January 14.
The demonstration passed without incident. (Suzanne Crow)

AKHROMEEV ON ARMY'S ROLE. Gorbachev's top military adviser said
in the January 21 Newsweek that force would be unnecessary in
the Baltic and that "the Soviet army will never go so far as
to open fire on civilians." Marshal Sergei Akhromeev said that
the "the main problem is preserve the integrity of our country,"
and said that officers turn to the President to fulfill his constitutional
oath in this respect. "It is the armed forces that ensure stability
and permit the president to carry on his normal activities,"
he said. Akhromeev also criticized the U.S. for fighting to maintain
the NATO alliance in Europe and for, in his view, interfering
in the Soviet Union's internal affairs. (Stephen Foye)


MILITARY PRESS HITS ARBATOV. Krasnaya zvezda of January 9 criticized
an article published recently in a Canadian newspaper by Georgii
Arbatov. Written by V. Korobushin, a Soviet military theorist,
the article implied that Arbatov is not competent to discuss
defense matters and that he is serving the interests of Western
nations. Among other things, Korobushin charged that NATO already
enjoys advantages in a number of weapons categories in Europe,
and that the CFE treaty will increase NATO's superiority. (Stephen
Foye)

SOVIET-NORTH KOREA MILITARY COOPERATION. The New China News Agency
quoted North Korean daily Rodong Sinmum on January 13 as saying
Pyongyang and Moscow agreed on January 12 to strengthen military
cooperation through regular contacts and visits between North
Korean forces and Soviet forces in the Far East. Soviet Deputy
Defense Minister Konstantin Kochetov and North Korean People's
Armed Forces Minister Kim Gwang-Jin met in Pyongyang, AFP reported
January 12. (Suzanne Crow)

MANDEL'SHTAM'S CENTENARY. January 15 marked the centenary of
the birth of the Russian poet, Osip Mandel'shtam. The anniversary
was noted by all major Soviet newspapers and by a program on
Soviet television. Today, the centenary is expected to be celebrated
in the prestigious Moscow Palace of Columns. As recently as December
1988, not a single literary newspaper mentioned the anniversary
of Mandel'shtam's death in a Far Eastern labor camp on December
27, 1938. During the TV program cited above, Aleksandr Morozov,
one of the most prominent specialists on Mandel'shtam in the
Soviet Union, said that his generation had believed that none
of Mandel'shtam's books would ever be published in the USSR (Julia
Wishnevsky)

CHURCH COMMITTEE FOR DISTRIBUTION OF FOREIGN AID. Sovetskaya
Estoniya reported on January 4 that the Moscow Patriarchate has
set up an All-Church Committee to coordinate the distribution
of goods which churches, religious charity organizations, and
private persons abroad are sending to the Soviet Union. The All-Church
Committee will assume responsibility for all efforts in this
field. (Oxana Antic)

RARE INFORMATION ABOUT THE "CATACOMB CHURCH". Religion in the
USSR (Novosti Press Agency's monthly bulletin, No. 1O, 199O,)
published an article on the True Orthodox Church. Representatives
of the True Orthodox Church--a catacomb Church that refused to
acknowledee the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate--began to
speak out at the end of 1987. The article, which is signed "Petr
Bolshakov (priest)," includes the biographies of the three metropolitans
who form the secret Council of one of the branches of the True
Orthodox Church. According to Father Petr, one of these metropolitans
founded 12 clandestine monastic settlements and consecrated more
than 5OO monks. (Oxana Antic)



USSR--IN THE REPUBLICS





GAMSAKHURDIA CALLS FOR SUSPENSION OF GORBACHEV DECREE ON SOUTH
OSSETIA. Georgian Supreme Council chairman Zviad Gamsakhurdia
yesterday called on Gorbachev to suspend his decree of January
6 ordering the withdrawal of Georgian militia from South Ossetia,
TASS reported. Gamsakhurdia argued that the decree "does not
help the situation" and encourages separatist sentiment. (Liz
Fuller)

MOLDAVIA REPORTEDLY WARNED BY MILITARY THEATER COMMANDER. Reporting
from Kishinev January 15, the correspondents of The Independent
and The Financial Times quoted Colonel General Ivan Morozov,
commander of the Odessa military district which includes Moldavia,
as saying on Radio Tiraspol that the Soviet Army would do everything
necessary to prevent Moldavia seceding from the USSR, as too
much blood had been spent in obtaining the territory for the
Union. (Vladimir Socor).

MOLDAVIAN PREMIER'S PLEA FOR FOOD AID GETS SUPPORT. Citing information
received from Moldavian Prime Minister Mircea Druc during the
latter's visit to Washington, Senator Robert Dole said that Moscow
is threatening to withhold foreign food aid from republics that
would not sign the proposed treaty of union, The New York Times
and The Journal of Commerce reported yesterday. Dole has consequently
introduced legislation to allow US food aid to the USSR to be
channeled directly to democratic-oriented republics. (Vladimir
Socor).

UKRAINE AND THE DRAFT. In his interview yesterday with Radio
Kiev-3 (see above), Supreme Soviet chairman Leonid Kravchuk said
it is not normal and inpermissible to use paratroopers to enforce
the draft. He suggested that the Ministry of Defense and not
Gorbachev, who signed the order to send the paratroopers into
seven republics, including parts of Ukraine, had acted irresponsibly.
Kravchuk asserted that the situation with the draft in Ukraine,
even in the western regions, was the best in the Soviet Union.
(Kathy Mihalisko)

MUSLIM ACTIVIST INTERVIEWED. The December 12 issue of Trud contains
a sympathetic interview with the peripatetic Kazakh activist
Almaz Estekov, who said he seeks, through his publication Turkestan
and his visits to Muslim communities in the Soviet Union, to
prevent interethnic conflict. He said he parted company with
the Democratic Union when they suggested that he organize a movement
in Kazakhstan to chase out the Russian inhabitants by force--Estekov
says that he rejects the use of violence. He would like to see
the Turkic peoples of Central Asia united, but within the framework
of the USSR. He professes an Islam freed of medieval dogmas and
stressed resemblances between Islam and Christianity. (Bess Brown)


As of 1300 CET Compiled by Patrick Moore and Sallie Wise

end