No. 12, 17 January 1991

BALTIC STATES



HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS MOURN VICTIMS. Yesterday the 13 Lithuanian
victims of the military assault on the Vilnius television tower
were buried. Funeral services for the nine victims from Vilnius
were conducted at the Vilnius Archcathedral by Vilnius Archbishop
Julijonas Steponavicius, at which the Russian Orthodox Archbishop
of Lithuania Khrisostom condemned the authorities in Moscow for
permitting violence against blameless civilians. The Lithuanian
authorities were represented by vice president Kazimieras Motieka
since President Vytautas Landsbergis, a Protestant, decided not
to attend for security reasons. The victims were then taken to
the cemetery in Antakalnis for burial. Hundreds of thousands
of people lined the streets to express their sympathy. The ceremonies
were broadcast live over Lithuania Radio. Church bells were rung
and special masses were held in all the churches of Lithuania.
The remaining four victims were buried in their home towns of
Kaunas, Marijampole, Rokiskis and Kedainiai. (Saulius Girnius)


TELEVISION TOWER INSPECTED. TASS reported on January 16 that
a large group of Soviet and foreign journalists visited the television
tower in Vilnius. They were said to have inspected all 23 floors
of the tower and found no strangers there. The military denied
Lithuanian claims that soldiers had removed "dead bodies in sacks",
saying that the bags were only filled with garbage. (Saulius
Girnius)

LATVIAN SOLIDARITY WITH LITHUANIA. January 16 was a day of mourning
throughout Latvia for the Lithuanians killed by Soviet troops
last weekend. Latvia sent an official delegation, led by Supreme
Council secretary Imants Daudiss, to the funeral ceremonies in
Vilnius. Deputy Alfreds Cepanis told Radio Riga January 17 that
he was tremendously moved by the events in Vilnius and impressed
by the Lithuanians' determination to achieve their goal of independence.
Since the weekend, Radio Riga has been intermittently broadcasting
news in Lithuanian, to help provide Lithuanian listeners with
reliable information. (Dzintra Bungs)

NEVZOROV SIDES WITH ARMY ON LITHUANIA. Yesterday the USSR Supreme
Soviet voted for television to broadcast a program by a prominent
Russian nationalist, Aleksandr Nevzorov. On January 15, Nevzorov's
account of the siege of the Vilnius television center was broadcast
by Leningrad TV, which is also seen in Moscow. Yesterday, it
was shown twice in prime time by both channels of Central Television.
Accompanied by music of the German composer Richard Wagner, it
depicted soldiers saying that the Lithuanians had thrown themselves
under tanks, and claiming that they had been under constant Lithuanian
sniper fire. Radio Riga yesterday condemned the broadcast as
"totally staged terrorist propaganda." (Julia Wishnevsky)

...WHILE A PRO-LITHUANIAN RULING IS INGNORED. Later yesterday,
the Supreme Soviet also approved a resolution suggested by the
liberal Interregional Group of deputies that urged the TV to
screen films available in the Lithuanian consulate in Moscow
and providing the Baltic point of view. This resolution has not
been carried out thus far. (Julia Wishnevsky)

PRIEST CONDUCTS MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR VICTIMS IN LITHUANIA. Radio
Rossiya reported on January 16 that on the day before, a memorial
service for those who died in Lithuania was conducted on the
Lyubyanskaya Place next to the memorial for victims of Stalin's
repressions. Russian Orthodox priest Fr. Gleb Yakunin, who conducted
the service, said in his short sermon that the recent bloodshed
is a continuation of the tragedy of Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Fr. Gleb declared that "we will demand a law against our Russian
boys being sent to suppress...". (Oxana Antic)

MOSCOW, LENINGRAD SUPPORT LITHUANIA. Yesterday's "Vremya" listed
a number of Leningrad plants that did not take part in the strike
organized by the city's soviet in protest against the violence
in Lithuania. "Vremya's" moderator, however, acknowledged that
many enterprises in Leningrad did strike. "Vremya" did not mention
protests in other cities. Meanwhile, about 40 research institutes
went on strike in Moscow alone. The Democratic Russia movement
plans to hold a mass rally in Moscow next Sunday. Leaflets, signed
by several popular deputies, including chairman of the Moscow
City Soviet Gavriil Popov, called on everyone who opposes the
replacement of the Yeltsin leadership by a "Russian Committee
for National Salvation" to attend the rally. (Russian BD/Radio
Rossiya/Julia Wishnevsky)

...AS DO THE NORTH CAUCASIAN MUSLIMS. On January 15, a meeting
supporting the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet was held in the North
Caucasian city Makhachkala. The meeting was organized by the
local Islamic Democratic Party and was addressed by the head
of the Dagestani Muslim congregation, Isaev, as well as by other
representatives of clergy. (Russian BD/Julia Wishnevsky)

MOLDAVIAN SUPREME SOVIET REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR LITHUANIA. Convening
yesterday for a new parliamentary session, the Moldavian Supreme
Soviet adopted overwhelmingly--with most Russian deputies opposed--the
text of the resolution voted by its Presidium on January 14,
denouncing the Soviet military crackdown in Lithuania (see Daily
Report, January 15). The republic's president Mircea Snegur took
the floor to oppose an alternative draft presented by Russian
deputies from the left bank of the Dniester supporting repression
in Lithuania. Bn addition, the Supreme Soviet voted an appeal
to Gorbachev aBd the USSR Supreme Soviet to stop the use of force
in the Baltic "and other" republics, and condemning "the campaign
against democracy". (Vladimir Socor)

MOLDAVIA'S RUSSIAN LEADERS ENDORSE MILITARY ACTION IN LITHUANIA.
In an interview with Le Figaro yesterday in TiBaspol, Igor Smirnov,
the president of the would-be DniBster SSR, said that he "supported
the intervention of the Soviet troops in Vilnius". Also yesterday,
the presidium of the Bainly Russian movement Edinstvo released
in Kishinev a statement of support for the "National Salvation
Committee" in Lithuania, reported by TASS on January 16. Moldavia's
Edinstvo blamed the violence in Vilnius on "the separatist policy
of the Sajudis regime, its attack on the interests of the people,
its preparations for mass political terror", and charged that
Lithuania saw "state sovereignty" as a license to "oppress ethnic
minorities". (Vladimir Socor)

BLACK BERETS SHOOT UNARMED CIVILIANS IN LATVIA. Yesterday at
around 11:30 AM and 5PM local time, members of the MVD special
units opened fire on vehicles and unarmed civilians guarding
strategic points in the Riga suburb of Vecmilgravis. In the late
afternoon incident, Roberts Murnieks, 39, was shot in the back
of the head at the Brasa bridge; he was part of the team guarding
the bridge. Murnieks, who died about two hoursOBater in the hospital,
was the first person killed in the current Kremlin campaign against
Latvia's independence. According to Radio Riga and Reuter of
January 16, the Black Berets shot at vehicles and set fire to
them also in other parts of Riga; several people were injured,
one seriously. (Dzintra Bungs)

LATVIANS WARNED OF FURTHER VIOLENCE. Latvia's Minister of Internal
Affairs Aloizs Vaznis said that he had sent a telegram of protest
against the violent actions of the Black Berets in Latvia to
the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), since the Black
Berets are under its jurisdiction, Radio Riga reported yesterday.
Vaznis also asked the people of Latvia to be particularly watchful
and restrained, since he had received threats that more explosions
can be expected throughout Latvia, especially in Daugavpils.
The New York Times of January 17 reported yet another explosion
in Riga the night before. (Dzintra Bungs)

SALVATION COMMITTEE CLAIMS TO BE FORMING A NEW LATVIAN GOVERNMENT.
The All-Latvia Public Salvation Committee claimed to be forming
"new bodies of state power," reported Radio Moscow on January
16. Led by Latvian Communist Party First Secretary Alfreds Rubiks
and former member of the USSR Presidential Council Alberts Kauls,
the committee wants Latvia Bo remain an integral part of the
USSR. Therefore, it aims to OOBrthrow the government of Latvia,
dissolve the Supreme Council, and hold new elections in Latvia.
Committee member Alexei Litvinenko issued a statement calling
on Soviet authorities to rescue Latvia's Russians, Ukrainians
and Belorussians form becoming "hostages of a nationalist, bourgeois
dictatorship." The committee was formed last November. (Bzintra
Bungs)

GORBUNOVS DENIES THAT TROOPS ARE NEED TO MAINTAIN ORDER. Chairman
of the Latvian Supreme Council Anatolijs Gorbunovs denied assertions
of the Salvation Committee that troops are needed to keep order
in Latvia. He told the press yesterday, according to Reuter of
January 16, that "the violence of the Black Berets is the most
destabilizing factor in Latvia at the moment." He said that the
barricades, erected around key buildings and sites in and around
Riga to provide protection in case of an attack by Soviet forces,
would be maintained until "full security" was guaranteed. (Dzintra
Bungs)

JURKANS AUTHORIZED TO REPRESENT LATVIAN GOVERNMENT ABROAD. Radio
Riga reported on January 14 that Foreign Minister Janis Jurkans
had been empowered to represent the Latvian government abroad,
in case of emergency. The same authority was accorded earlier
to Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council Dainis Ivans. They
plan to visit European and North American capitals with other
Baltic representatives to win Western support for Estonian, Latvian,
and Lithuanian independence. (Dzintra Bungs)

ESTONIA CALLS ON PARATROOPERS. The Estonian government yesterday
called on reservist paratroopers to offer their "help." In an
announcement read over Estonian Radio and reported later that
day by ETA, the Department of State Defense and Economic Borders
said that reservists who have served in Soviet paratroop units
have "gained experience that may be needed now." The announcement
urged the reservists to make their whereabouts known to the Estonian
government "in connection with defending Estonia from Soviet
military intervention." (Riina Kionka)

LAURISTIN TO REPRESENT ESTONIA? The Estonian Supreme Council
yesterday appointed deputy speaker Marju Lauristin to be its
representative abroad, Estonian Radio reported yesterday. The
move augments the Supreme Council Presidium's decision on January
13 to name a three-member emergency defense commission to act
in its stead in case developments do not allow that body to function.
All three Baltic states have named representatives abroad during
the last week in response to ongoing Soviet pressure. (Riina
Kionka)



USSR - ALL-UNION TOPICS



USSR REACTION TO GULF WAR. As the multinational force began bombing
early this morning in Iraq and Kuwait, TASS issued a steady flow
of information taken from Western and Middle Eastern news agencies
and television networks. Soviet UN Ambassador Yulii Vorontsov
said in New York: "The United States has created a force to liberate
Kuwait by military means after certain conditions have not been
met by Saddam Hussein and who are we to tell them how to do it?"
But, he added, the "object was still to liberate Kuwait and not
to destroy Iraq," Reuters reported today. (Suzanne Crow)

USSR STRESSES DIPLOMACY. Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Belonogov
stressed before the Supreme Soviet yesterday that diplomacy still
had a chance to work if Iraq began withdrawing from Kuwait. Belonogov,
who has been involved in the Soviet Union's diplomatic effort
in the Middle East, said: "We get the impression the Iraqi leadership
still does not really believe in the decisive mood of the American
administration... We told Saddam Hussein we have no doubts about
the full war-readiness of the Americans...," TASS and Reuters
reported yesterday. (Suzanne Crow)

GULF WAR: SOVIET FORCES ON ALERT. The Chief of the General Staff
told TASS yesterday that all forces in the south of the Soviet
Union have been put in a state of high military alert as a result
of the Gulf War, Reuter reported. Army General Mikhail Moiseev
called the war "a tragedy for the people of Iraq and the entire
Arab East," and said that the Soviet army is closely monitoring
developments in the Gulf. Moiseev reportedly placed blame for
the conflict on Iraq and its occupation of Kuwait. (Stephen Foye)


GORBACHEV PLEADS TO REINSTATE CENSORSHIP. At the closed session
of the USSR Supreme Soviet yesterday, Gorbachev suggested that
the USSR Press Law abolishing censorship be suspended "for the
time being." Gorbachev specifically cited yesterday's Moscow
News blaming Gorbachev for "the grave crime" committed in Lithuania.
(This edition of the weekly seems to have been confiscated by
the authorities, which is itself illegal.) This suggestion was
rebuffed by liberal deputies. Philosopher Yurii Karyakin recalled
that the Soviet leadership had "temporarily" suspended the free
press in 1918, but this "time being" lasted for the next 72 years.
Thereupon, an overwhelming majority of deputies voted for a milder
measure instructing the SupSov Glasnost Committee to ensure the
"objectivity" of news coverage in the media. (Julia Wishnevsky)


PROPOSAL TO REINSTATE CENSORSHIP CENSORED. Neither yesterday's
"Vremya" newscast nor the second channel of Soviet TV's report
on the last day of the USSR Supreme Soviet mentioned Gorbachev's
proposal to suspend the new law on the press. The reports merely
said that parliament had agreed to charge its Glasnost Committee
with monitoring the media's objectivity. Also unreported were
attacks by many deputies on the performance of Soviet television
under its new chief, Leonid Kravchenko. In the course of the
debates, the Armenian artist Genrikh Igityan said that Kravchenko
had turned state television "into a bad kolkhoz." Some details
of the debates were revealed, however, in Aleksandr Ruvinsky's
"Parliamentary Diary" that was broadcast at 7.30 PM by the first
channel of the Moscow Radio. (Julia Wishnevsky)

CABINET APPOINTMENTS. On January 14, the USSR SupSov 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 under
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 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 the Federation Council had preferred the candidacy of Doguzhiev,
who is an Adygei. (Elizabeth Teague)

MORE CABINET APPOINTMENTS TO COME. Gorbachev told the SupSov
on January 14 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.
On January 15, the SupSov approved Gorbachev's nomination of
Boris Pugo as minister of internal affairs. (Elizabeth Teague)


GORBACHEV DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF COMMITTEES FOR NATIONAL SALVATION.
According to Radio Moscow's "Parliamentary Diary" last evening,
during yesterday's session of the USSR Supreme Soviet deputy
Ella Pamfilova asked Gorbachev for information about the "committees
for national salvation" set up in Lithaunia, Latvia, and possibly
other places. Indirectly citing an interview by fellow deputy
Viktor Alksnis, Panfilova noted the rumors concerning an all-Union
"committee for national salvation," aimed at replacing all existing
governmental bodies, including President Gorbachev himself. Gorbachev
replied that he knew very little of the network of the committees
with this name that have suddenly been born in various parts
of his country. (Julia Wishnevsky)

YANAEV CONTROVERSY STILL UNRESOLVED. "Parliamentary Diary" also
reported that a leader of the Interregional Group of Deputies
, Arkadii Murashov, asked the chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet
Anatolii Luk'yanov about the results of the investigation of
alleged fraud during the elections of Soviet Vice-President Gennadii
Yanaev at the fourth session of the USSR Congress of People's
Deputies last month. Luk'yanov replied that the results of the
inquiry were not available. Earlier that day the USSR Supreme
Soviet voted to finance the vice-president's salary and bodyguards
(Julia Wishnevsky)

ANOTHER TV PROGRAM BANNED. Yesterday's edition of the late-night
news, TSN, whose coverage of Baltic events has been notably more
objective than "Vremya's", was cancelled. On January 15, the
program showed the corpses of people shot during the violence
on Sunday, and tanks on the streets of Vilnius. At that point
its moderator, Tat'yana Mitkova hinted that the next edition
of the news might not appear. Another edition of TSN scheduled
to be broadcast today, at 12:00 Moscow time, was not aired either.
Yesterday after midnight, a TV speaker announcing today's program
schedule promised three editions of this newscast: at noon, 3
PM, and 12:40 AM (all Moscow time.) (Julia Wishnevsky)

REFERENDUM ON FUTURE OF SOVIET UNION ON MARCH 17. The USSR Supreme
Soviet decided yesterday that the referendum on the preservation
of the Soviet Union as an integral state, demanded by Gorbachev,
should take place on March 17. The vote was 306 in favor and
44 against with 36 abstentions. The question to which voters
will have to answer "yes" or "no" is: "Do you think necessary
the preservation of the USSR as a renewed federation of equal-righted
sovereign states in which the rights and freedoms of an individual
of any nationality are fully guaranteed?" (Ann Sheehy)

SHEVARDNADZE COMMENTS ON BESSMERTNYKH... Eduard Shevardnadze
said yesterday his successor is a man of independent thinking,
a good colleague, and an excellent diplomat. In an article in
yesterday's Izvestia (quoted by TASS), Shevardnadze said it was
he and Bessmertnykh who initiated and carried through a change
in US-Soviet relations. Shevardnadze reiterated that he plans
to set up an independent foreign policy organization that will
propagate theories in "new thinking." (NCA/Suzanne Crow)

...SO DOES PETRUSHENKO. Bessmertnykh did not get high marks from
People's Deputy Lt. Col. Nikolai Petrushenko, a leading critic
of Shevardnadze and member of the "Soyuz" group. Petrushenko
said he was "disappointed" by the appointment of Bessmertnykh.
He added, "I had hoped for someone with a more pro-Arab, pro-Third
World orientation." Petrushenko called Bessmertnykh's appointment
a sign of "continued weakness and vacillation on the part of
Gorbachev," USA Today reported yesterday. (Suzanne Crow)

DEFENSE MINISTRY ACCUSES PAPERS OF SLANDER. In a statement read
on "Vremya" last night, the Soviet Defense Ministry accused three
newspapers of publishing allegedly slanderous reports. The papers
involved were Nezavisimaya gazeta of Moscow, Moskovsky komsomolets,
and Komsomolskaya pravda. One of the papers had claimed there
was a mutiny in a Soviet troop unit, another said that a Soviet
paratrooper had been shot dead by his comrades, and a third claimed
that tanks had crushed people. The Defense Ministry has been
conducting a rear-guard action to cover up actions by Soviet
forces in Vilnius witnessed by onlookers and foreign correspondents.
(NCA/Stephen Foye)

TASS SCORES LOPATIN. Commentator Vladimir Chernyshev yesterday
criticized remarks made by Vladimir Lopatin during a trip to
the US last October. Lopatin, Deputy Chairman of the RSFSR State
Security Committee, allegedly called for nuclear weapons to be
given to the various republics following a "transition period."
Coming months after Lopatin made the statements, Chernyshev's
comments are likely part of a central media campaign to discredit
Boris Yeltsin at home, where he has asked Russian soldiers not
to fire on civilians, and overseas, where fears of nuclear destabilization
are widespread. No republican government has requested nuclear
weapons. (Stephen Foye)

SOBCHAK HITS PARTY CONTROL OVER ARMY. Leningrad city soviet chairman
Anatolii Sobchak told Radio Rossiya yesterday that attacks by
the armed forces against civilians can only be prevented if Communist
Party control over the army is ended. Arguing that the army should
be a state and not a Party institution, he said that the Communist
Party cannot give orders to anyone. Sobchak's comments indicate
the extent to which the Communist Party is still perceived as
controlling defense affairs. (Stephen Foye)

FOREIGN AID SUPPLIES UNDELIVERED OR STOLEN. A KGB press release,
quoted yesterday by TASS, says that more than 7 tons of food
aid has been sitting at Moscow's international airport for 3
weeks. The press release also reported that aid has been stolen
and diverted to the black market in Leningrad, Pskov, Zhitomir,
Vladimir, and Yerevan. The KGB, which is responsible for seeing
that incoming aid is properly distributed, said a number of criminal
proceedings have begun. (Dawn Mann)

USSR-HONDURAS RELATIONS. The Soviet Union and Honduras announced
at the UN on January 15 that they have established diplomatic
relations. (NCA/Suzanne Crow)

USSR - IN THE REPUBLICS



GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER BLAMES GORBACHEV FOR LITHUANIAN CRACKDOWN.
Speaking in Vienna yesterday, Georgian Foreign Minister Giorgi
Khoshtaria argued that it was impossible for Gorbachev not to
have known in advance of the Soviet military action in Vilnius.
Khoshtaria further stated that Georgia would resist efforts by
the Soviet military to round up draft evaders, would form its
own republican military force, and that Georgia would not comply
with Gorbachev's demand to withdraw its forces from South Ossetia.
TASS reported yesterday that several thousand Armenians demonstrated
in Tbilisi the previous day in support of Georgian independence
and the Georgian government's policy on Ossetia. (Liz Fuller)


KHASBULATOV DISMISSES LITHUANIAN SCENARIO FOR RUSSIA. Ruslan
Khasbulatov, first deputy chairman of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet,
told Soviet television January 15 that he does not expect the
Lithuanian crackdown to be repeated in Russia. Khasbulatov answered
persistent rumors that there will be an attempt to replace the
democratically-elected RSFSR parliament with a local "committee
for national salvation," since the RSFSR Communist Party urged
setting up a body with this name during the last RCP plenum a
few months ago. Kasbulatov said that a repetition of the Lithuanian
scenario on Russian soil would cause imminent "political suicide"
for President Gorbachev. (Julia Wishnevsky)

OIL AND GAS LEASES TO BE AUCTIONED. The Chicago Tribune reported
yesterday that petroleum and gas leases on more than 90,000 square
kilometers of land in Turkmenistan are to be auctioned in Houston
on January 29. Representatives of Turkmenistan are to attend
the auction as members of the Soviet delegation, to be headed
by the USSR minister of geology. Reportedly some 40 US and foreign
firms have signed up to attend the auction. An unidentified oil
company executive was quoted as saying that in recent weeks the
Soviet government has reasserted central control over petroleum
matters. If true, this could cause serious resentment in Kazakhstan
and Turkmenistan, both of which have claimed control over their
own resources. (Bess Brown)

UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY RESTORED. Pope John Paul II yesterday
officially confirmed clandestine bishops or appointed new bishops
for the Catholic Byzantine and Latin rites in Ukraine, thereby
restoring the formal Catholic hierarchy there. The Pope confirmed
83-year-old Archbishop Volodymyr Sterniuk as "locum tenens" of
Rome-based Cardinal Archbishop Major Ivan Lubachivs'ky of Lvov
for Byzantine-rite Catholics. Rome church sources say Soviet
and Ukrainian state authorities consented to the sweeping episcopal
reorganization announced by the Vatican. In addition, Cardinal
Lubachivs'ky will be shifting his "primary" office from Rome
to Lvov. (NCA)

COMPLETE STATISTICS ON THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH. Religion
in USSR /Novosti Press Agency monthly bulletin/, No. 10, 1990,
pp. 53-60, published detailed statistics on the situation of
the Russian Orthodox Church. It listed all diocesan bishops with
addresses. However, it mentioned only four major monasteries
out of 56 which now exist in the Soviet Union. (Oxana Antic)


PROTEST OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST. Russian Orthodox priest Fr.
Valerii Lapkovksy, a city soviet deputy from Feodosiya, published
a strong protest in Pobeda (Nov. 6, 199O), the organ of Feodosiya
City Soviet of Peoples' Deputies of Crimean oblast'. In his article
Fr. Valerii attacked the First Secretary of the City Committee.
The latter had recommended an intensification of work against
religion, though he added that this should be without force.
The priest, in his turn, warned that such an attitude is counterproductive.
He also demanded the return of a building next to the Cathedral
confiscated during Stalin's rule. (Oxana Antic)

LACK OF COUPONS STOPS SALES OF FOOD. Since the beginning of the
year, shops in Kuibyshev--a major space and defense industry
center--have been well-stocked with meat, eggs, macaroni, cooking
oil, and a choice of cigarettes, but because the local authorities
have not yet printed the necessary ration coupons, consumers
cannot buy these goods. Sovetskaya Rossiya reported January 8
that local soviet officials blame the regional Party committee,
on whose printing presses the coupons are to be printed; Party
officials say they haven't any paper. Food has been in short
supply in Kuibyshev for several months; in November, only bread
and milk were freely available. (Dawn Mann)

BURYAT PARLIAMENT REJECTS CENTER'S NOMINEE. The Buryat Supreme
Soviet has refused to endorse as chairman of the republican KGB
Colonel Veniamin Dolin, the candidate named two months ago by
the chairman of the USSR KGB, TASS reported yesterday. At the
same time, the republican minister of internal affairs, Sergei
Ivanov, who was nominated for the KGB chairmanship by the chairman
of the Buryat council of ministers, also failed to get the required
number of votes. (Ann Sheehy)

ISLAMIC REBIRTH PARTY. Vadiakhmed Sadur, a member of the Ulema
council of the Islamic Rebirth Party founded in 1990, said in
an interview with Izvestia of January 8 that the party has over
10,000 members, mainly in Central Asia and the North Caucasus.
The Central Asian organization consists primarily of Tajiks (the
party has been banned in Tajikistan), the North Caucasian of
Dagestanis, Chechen and Ingush, and the European and Siberian
almost entirely of Tatars. The party does not aim to create an
Islamic state but to promote knowledge of Islam and defend the
interests of believers, which, in its view, the official Islamic
clergy is unable to do. (Ann Sheehy)

As of 1300 CET Compiled by Patrick Moore and Sallie Wise