No. 191, 05 October 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

HEAVY FIGHTING IN ABKHAZIA. On 2 October some 3,000-4,000 Abkhaz
National Guardsmen and volunteers from the North Caucasus captured
the town of Gagra after heavy fighting with the 200-Georgian
troops there; some 100 people were killed, Western agencies reported.
The Georgian State Council announced plans to mobilize 40,000
reservists. State Council Chairman Eduard Shevardnadze flew to
the Abkhaz capital, Sukhumi, where he told journalists that while
Georgia had complied with the 3 September ceasefire agreement,
Abkhaz forces had consistently violated it with the support of
the Russian parliament. He vowed that Georgia would retake Gagra.
Meeting in Tbilisi on 3 October in Shevardnadze's absence, the
Georgian State Council voted to seize all former Soviet military
equipment on Georgian territory. Also on 3 October, Shevardnadze's
helicopter was fired upon as he travelled to Sochi for talks
with Russian military officials. Gagra was reported calm on 4-October,
but a representative of the State Council told AFP that the Abkhaz
were committing "atrocities" against the civilian population.
Georgian reinforcements were dispatched to the towns of Gantiadi
and Leselidze, between Gagra and the Russian frontier. The State
Council appealed to NATO Secretary-General Manfred Woerner and
to the CSCE to help calm the situation, according to AFP. Addressing
a rally in Sukhumi, Shevardnadze called on the Georgian population
of Abkhazia to participate in the 11 October parliamentary elections
which he termed the key to stabilizing the situation in the republic.
(Liz Fuller)

GRACHEV WARNS GEORGIA ABOUT ARMS SEIZURES. Russian Defense Minister
General Pavel Grachev on 4 October warned Georgia that any attempts
to take control of Russian military equipment in the republic
could lead to armed clashes between Russian and Georgian forces.
Grachev was responding to the recent Georgian State Council's
decision to seize all Russian arms stationed in Georgia. ITAR-TASS
quoted Grachev as saying that this decision was "a flagrant breach
of earlier agreements" and that he had given orders to all Russian
troops to prevent any forcible seizure of military facilities.
Russian and Georgian authorities had previously worked out arrangements
for the transfer of some Russian military equipment to the republic.
In August, the Russians announced that the 10th Motorized Rifle
division in Akhaltsikhe, stationed along the Turkish border,
would be disbanded and its equipment handed over to Georgia.
However, on 17 September the Russian Defense Ministry charged
that Georgian units were attacking Russian troops and civilians,
and warned that its forces reserved the right to fight back.
(Doug Clarke)

WESTERN CORRESPONDENTS VISIT TAJIKISTAN WAR ZONE. Reports on
2,3 and 4-October from Western correspondents visiting Kurgan-Tyube
and other locations in southern Tajikistan provide some confirmation
of charges made earlier by opponents of deposed President Rakhmon
Nabiev that Russian forces stationed in the country are helping
pro-Nabiev fighters. The pro-Nabiev forces from Kulyab Oblast
have severely damaged the town of Kurgan-Tyube, and thousands
of refugees from there were reported to be making their way to
Dushanbe. In an interview on Tajik Radio on 4 October, Tajik
Deputy Prime Minister Davlat Usmon, a leader of the Islamic Renaissance
Party, compared the role of Russian troops in Tajikistan with
that of Soviet troops in Afghanistan and accused the Russians
of siding with forces opposed to the present Tajik government.
(Bess Brown)

EXPERIMENTAL LAND SALES IN RUSSIA. President Yeltsin has signed
a decree "On Carrying Out an Experiment in Moscow Oblast in 1992
in Auctioning Off Plots of Land for Housing Construction," ITAR-TASS
reported on 2 October. Officials in the Ramenskoye raion will
be authorized to auction plots of land to residents of Moscow
and the Moscow oblast for housing construction. They will be
asked to submit reports within one month on the results of the
experiment. The State Committee for Land Reform is expected to
use the results to help determine land values in any future widespread
land privatization. (Keith Bush)

RUSSIA TO TIGHTEN CONTROL OF HARD-CURRENCY EARNINGS. Russian
First Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Sergei Glazyev told Parliament
on 2 October that the government would soon require state enterprises
to sell all of their hard-currency earnings to the state, Interfax
and Radio Rossii reported. At present, state enterprises must
sell half of their hard-currency earnings to the state at the
going market rate. Glazyev did not specify when the proposed
measure would take effect. He told Interfax that firms had stashed
away some $3.5-billion in foreign bank accounts, while an additional
$1.5 billion was "outside government control." It is thought
that anticipation of this move was a factor in last week's decline
in the exchange rate of the ruble. (Keith Bush)

KRAVCHUK APPOINTS ACTING PRIME MINISTER. Ukrainian President
Leonid Kravchuk on 2-October appointed Valentyn Symonenko as
acting prime minister, Ukrinform-TASS and Western news agencies
reported. The move follows the resignation of Vitold Fokin and
the parliamentary vote of no confidence in his government. Symonenko,
who was appointed Kravchuk's representative in Odessa earlier
this year, subsequently was named first deputy prime minister.
His appointment came after Volodymyr Lanovyi, the market-oriented
minister of economics and deputy prime minister, was sacked by
Kravchuk. (Roman Solchanyk)

RUSSIA, UKRAINE CONCUR ON FORMER USSR DEBT. Russian Prime Minister
Egor Gaidar and Ukrainian President Kravchuk announced in Kiev
on 3 October that their countries would accept responsibility
for their individual shares of the $70-$80-billion debt of the
former Soviet Union, but no more. The two nations are thereby
rejecting the concept of "joint and several" responsibility for
the debt to which they agreed with Western creditors last December.
The concept of "joint and several" responsibility basically means
that in case of non-payment on the former Soviet debt by one
or more of the republics, the remaining republics must make up
the difference. This decision by Russia and Ukraine may cause
further problems in upcoming negotiations over debt repayment
with Western creditors. (Erik Whitlock)

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN AGREEMENT ON TRADE ISSUES. Gaidar's visit to
Kiev also produced an agreement between Russia and Ukraine on
resolving their current trade dispute. Few details were provided.
Western news agencies quoted Gaidar as saying simply that the
agreement would contribute to "normalizing uneasy relations between
the two countries." The recent dispute concerns outstanding payments
between Ukrainian and Russian enterprises for imports. Russian
unilateral actions to stem the growth of this indebtedness has
significantly hampered already floundering trade between the
two states. The documents signed by Gaidar and acting Ukrainian
Prime Minister Valentin Symonenko also appear to include provisions
for the introduction of a new Ukrainian national currency. (Erik
Whitlock)

DEMOCRATS AND CIVIC UNION SEARCH FOR CONSENSUS. Representatives
of the "Democratic Russia" movement and the Civic Union have
met to discuss economic reform and decided to set up groups of
joint experts of various political groups to monitor and advice
the government on reform, DR-Press reported on 4 October. Representatives
of the Civic Union suggested that an invitation be extended to
members of a right-wing group opposed to the group of experts,
but the democrats rejected the idea. Members of the Civic Union
said that the Arkadii Volsky's "thirteen point program," which
had been published in Izvestiya on 13-September, was not the
official economic program of the Civic Union. (Alexander Rahr)


GORBACHEV BARRED FROM FOREIGN TRAVEL. ITAR-TASS quoted on 2 October
a press release issued by the Russian Constitutional Court concerning
its request that the Russian Foreign Ministry along with the
Ministry of Security (formerly the KGB) ensure the appearance
in the Court of former CPSU Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev.
The request was made in response to Gorbachev's refusal to testify
at the communist party hearings "and in the connection of his
scheduled trip abroad." ITAR-TASS quoted the Constitutional Court
as stating that the aforementioned ministries had taken "appropriate
measures" to stop Gorbachev from going abroad. On 6 October,
Gorbachev was supposed to begin a visit to South Korea; according
to The Los Angeles Times of 4 October, after the authorities
withdrew his passport, Gorbachev informed the Koreans that the
trip had to be postponed. Gorbachev reportedly had plans to visit
several Latin American countries; he also was to visit Berlin
to receive that city's honorary citizenship on 6 November. (Julia
Wishnevsky)

YELTSIN SIGNS DECREE ON GOVERNMENT. President Boris Yeltsin has
signed a decree on the reorganization of the government, ITAR-TASS
reported on 2-October. It abolishes the ministry of architecture,
construction and housing management, the ministry for industry
and twenty-two state committees. Six new state committees, including
one for industrial policy, will be created. Twenty-six other
ministries will be reorganized and a new post of deputy prime
minister for agriculture will be established. The former State
Committee for Procurement (Gossnab) will be transformed into
a share holding company called Roskontrakt. Yeltsin signed the
decree before the parliament concluded its discussions on a new
law on the government, which may cause new friction. In an apparent
effort to minimize anticipated negative political reaction, Prime
Minister Gaidar told an ITAR-TASS correspondent on 24-September
that the current governmental structure was hurriedly thrown
together in a moment of crisis as the Soviet Union was falling
apart. The planned restructuring, he said, is simply an attempt
to "instill order, [and] define functions and competence... [in]
the hierarchy of agencies." (Alexander Rahr & Erik Whitlock)


CRIMEAN MEJLIS TO HOLD EMERGENCY SESSION. Crimean Tatar leaders
are calling for an emergency session of their parliament, the
Mejlis, Interfax and Western news agencies reported on 4 October.
The action follows a clash between Tatars and Crimean authorities
after the latter ordered the removal of temporary houses built
by the Tartars in the southern town of Alushta. More than 50
people were reported injured. (Roman Solchanyk)

EXTRAORDINARY CONGRESS OF MOUNTAIN PEOPLES OF THE CAUCASUS. The
two-day extraordinary congress of the mountain peoples of the
Caucasus held in the Chechen capital Groznyi to discuss the situation
in Abkhazia ended on 4 October, ITAR-TASS reported. Its final
declaration calls on the official leaders of the North Caucasian
republics to denounce the federal treaty that governs their relations
with Russia as not in accord with the interests of the peoples
of the North Caucasus. It also recommends that political organizations
and movements in the republics demand that the leaderships strive
for real independence, recognize the independence of Chechnya,
Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, and create joint forces of regional
security. If the republican leaderships refuse to do this, the
confederation threatens to organize mass protests demanding their
resignations. The congress also demanded the immediate withdrawal
of all Russian troops from the region. (Ann Sheehy)

CONFEDERATION OF MOUNTAIN PEOPLES RENAMED. The congress decided
to rename the Confederation of the Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus
the Confederation of the Peoples of the Caucasus in the hope
that the local Cossacks and others would join it. In an interview
with ITAR-TASS on 3 October, the confederation's president, Musa
Shanibov, said that although Chechnya was the standard-bearer
of freedom in the region, he still believed that the other 15
peoples who are members of the confederation should for the time
being continue to link their fate with Russia to avoid a conflagration.
A session of the confederation's parliament is due to take place
in two weeks' time. (Ann Sheehy)

PRESIDENT OF KABARDINO-BALKARIA CRITICIZES RUSSIA. Valerii Kokov,
president of Kabardino-Balkaria, told Russian journalists on
4 October that Russia's policy towards the North Caucasus was
"inadequate," and lacking in an understanding of the situation,
ITAR-TASS reported. He said that the arrest in Nalchik of Musa
Shanibov, the leader of the Confederation of the Mountain Peoples
of the Caucasus, had been illtimed. The arrest sparked off round-the-clock
protests meetings in Nalchik that are still continuing. Interfax
reported on 4 October that protesters were still awaiting a response
from the republican government to their demands that Russian
MVD troops withdraw and that Kokov resign. (Ann Sheehy)

POLL ON POLITICAL PARTIES IN AZERBAIJAN. On 3 October Interfax
cited the results of a poll conducted by the Baku Center for
Sociological Studies which indicates that the ruling Azerbaijan
Popular Front is the most popular political organization in Azerbaijan,
with a rating of 37.2 per cent among an unspecified number of
respondents in the cities of Baku and Sumgait. The radical National
Independence Party of Azerbaijan, headed by Etibar Mamedov, was
second with 26 per cent. Among the Azerbaijani leadership, Iskander
Gamidov, the pan-Turkist Minister of Internal Affairs, is supported
by 58.7 per cent of those polled, followed by Defense Minister
Ragim Kaziev (50 per cent) and Nakhichevan parliament Chairman
Geidar Aliev (39.5 per cent). No rating was listed for President
Abulfaz Elchibey. (Liz Fuller)

OIL INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS. Azerbaijan has signed a preliminary
agreement with Pennzoil, Remco, and Pennzoil Caspial to develop
oil and gas deposits in the Guneshli offshore field in the Caspian
Sea, Turan, RIA, and The Wall Street Journal reported on 2-October.
The Western companies are expected to invest $2.5 billion during
the next 10 years. Russia's top corruption investigator was quoted
by Trud on 2-October as saying that corruption in the oil industry
is "alarming" and that only one-quarter of the value of exported
oil is repatriated. And the governor of Tyumen oblast told Reuters
on 2 October that his oil industry will fight to keep its 20%
share of oil revenues. (Keith Bush)

KYRGYZ VICE PRESIDENT VISITS TAJIKISTAN. Kyrgyzstan's Vice President
Feliks Kulov was the first representative of a CIS state to visit
the war zone in southern Tajikistan, Tajik acting President Akbarsho
Iskandarov told Interfax on 2 October. The following day Kulov
told Interfax that the issue of a peacekeeping force for Tajikistan
will be raised at the CIS summit on 9 October, and Tajik leaders
will present plans for the deployment of peacekeepers. The opposing
sides in the conflict agreed to support the deployment of a CIS
peacekeeping force, according to Kulov, but want it to be made
up of troops from a neutral state. (Bess Brown)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

BOSNIAN UPDATE. International relief flights began again to Sarajevo
on 3 October, following a one-month break after an Italian cargo
plane was shot down by a shoulder-launched missile of undetermined
origin. The thick Sarajevo fog forced a delay in additional relief
flights on 3 October, but the BBC said that the first plane had
brought new radar equipment to enable the airport to stay open
throughout the fog season. The New York Times quoted President
George Bush as calling Serbian bombing attacks in Bosnia a "flagrant
disregard for human life" and supporting a ban on all flights
in that republic except those authorized by the UN. In Strasbourg
EC special envoy Lord Owen told an RFE/RL correspondent that
the effects of ethnic cleansing by Serbian forces will eventually
be undone by "persistent application of principle-.-.-. not over
months but over years." Finally, Reuters quoted UN High Commissioner
for Refugees Sadako Ogata and the chief of the International
Committee of the Red Cross Cornelio Sommaruga as condemning ethnic
cleansing, including what Ogata referred to as encouraging "rape
of women of another ethnic group." (Patrick Moore)

ALLEGATIONS OF SYSTEMATIC ASSAULTS ON MUSLIM WOMEN. Western news
agencies on 2-October quoted Bosnian Serbian leaders as denying
recent media reports that their fighters are systematically raping
Muslim women, and military liaison officer Momo Starcevic promised
to punish any guilty parties. On 25 September the Zagreb weekly
Globus reported on a particular incident in which 40 Muslim young
women from one village said they had been gang-raped by Serbs
over a period of several days. One of the men told them it was
part of a policy to wipe out the Muslim nation. Globus further
reported that a team of UN gynecologists examined the women,
confirmed their stories, and concluded that such mistreatment
appears to be a "war strategy-.-.-. [ordered] from the top."
The story was not corroborated, however. (Patrick Moore)

ATMOSPHERE IN CZECHOSLOVAK COALITION DETERIORATING. After deputies
of Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic
Slovakia (HZDS) supported a resolution of the leftist opposition
in the federal parliament on the creation of a Czech and Slovak
Union on 1 October, Czech officials charged Meciar with breaking
earlier agreements between the coalition partners. Czech Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus published a statement on 2 October in which
he said that he feels betrayed. He said the HZDS's shift of position
is dangerous "for the future of democracy in our country." After
an emergency session of the Czech government on 3-October, Klaus
made it clear that he has no intention of postponing scheduled
meetings with the Slovak government to discuss further steps
of dividing the country, despite Meciar's urging to do so. Klaus
also said that Czechoslovakia will cease to exist on 1 January
1993, thus indicating that he will not take into consideration
the federal parliament's proposal on creating a union between
the two republics. Former President Vaclav Havel supported the
Czech government's view; he was quoted by CSTK on 3-October as
saying that a union would only prolong the agony. (Jan Obrman)


CIVIC MOVEMENT BECOMES A PARTY. Delegates to a special congress
of the Civic Movement, one of the heirs to the Civic Forum, which
toppled the Czechoslovak communist regime in November 1989, voted
on 4 October to transform the movement into a political party.
Delegates abolished the movement's collective, open membership
and replaced it with a fixed structure. Before the elections
of June 1992, the Civic Movement was a dominating political actor
on the federal level and in the Czech Republic, but it failed
to win enough support in the elections to be represented in either
the Czech or the federal parliaments. Former Foreign Minister
Jiri Dienstbier was elected the party's chairman. He said the
party's goal is to form a liberal, nonsocialist alternative in
today's political scene. (Jan Obrman)

FINAL RESULTS IN ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE. On 4 October the
Constitutional Court released the final results of the 27 September
presidential race. Incumbent President Ion Iliescu won 47.34%
of the votes, followed by Emil Constantinescu, candidate of the
centrist Democratic Convention, with 31.24%; Gheorghe Funar of
the Party of Romanian National Unity (10.88%); Caius Traian Dragomir
of the National Salvation Front (4.75); Ioan Manzatu from the
fringe Republican Party (3.05%); and Mircea Druc, a former prime
minister of Moldova who ran as an independent (2.75%). Radio
Bucharest quoted the president of the court as saying that the
share of invalid votes (4.65%) was "normal." A runoff between
Iliescu and Constantinescu is scheduled for 11 October. (Dan
Ionescu)

CONSTANTINESCU CRITICIZES VOTE COUNTING. The same day Radio Bucharest
broadcast a statement by Constantinescu criticizing what he termed
"confusion and lack of transparency" surrounding the vote counting.
Constantinescu spoke of "serious irregularities" and stressed
that roughly one in ten votes for the parliament had been declared
invalid. He appealed to the authorities to show "a maximum of
fairness" in staging the runoff for presidency, and challenged
his rival Ion Iliescu to at least three debates to be broadcast
live by Romanian radio and television. (Dan Ionescu)

FUNAR BECOMES INTERIM PRESIDENT OF HIS PARTY. The National Council
of the Party of Romanian National Unity (PRNU), the political
arm of the nationalist "Vatra Romaneasca" (Romanian Hearth) organization,
announced on 3 October that Gheorghe Funar was appointed the
party's interim president at a council meeting in Cluj-Napoca.
Funar placed third with almost 11% of the votes in the presidential
race, while his PRNU was also third in the parliamentarian elections.
Before appointing Funar, the council "suspended" former party
president Radu Ciontea and "discharged" another four leaders.
It also appointed a delegation including Funar to conduct talks
in Bucharest on the building of the next government, Radio Bucharest
said. (Dan Ionescu)

IN POLAND, GAIDAR AGREES TO ZERO-SUM DEBT SETTLEMENT. Mutual
debt claims were the focus of talks between Russian Prime Minister
Egor Gaidar and Polish officials in Warsaw on 2 October. Gaidar
and Polish Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka signed agreements on
investment protection and cross-border cooperation. Gaidar pledged
that Poland will be able to buy as much oil from Russia as it
can afford in 1992 and 1993. Russia supports the idea of a "zero-sum
settlement" of mutual debt claims, he said. President Lech Walesa
earlier told Gaidar that Poland insists on a zero-sum solution.
Polish TV reported that Poland owes Moscow $1.5-billion and 5-billion
transfer rubles, while Russia owes Poland $300 million and 7-million
transfer rubles. A joint commission was formed to settle the
question. Gen.-Leonid Kovalev announced that the withdrawal of
Russian combat troops from Poland will conclude by the end of
October, two weeks ahead of schedule. Walesa said that Poland
wants good relations with Russia, but with respect for the principles
of partnership and democracy. (Louisa Vinton)

POLISH MASS PRIVATIZATION MOVES FORWARD. Poland's mass privatization
program survived an important test on 2 October, when the Sejm
voted down a motion to throw out the government's draft legislation.
PAP reported that the vote on rejecting the legislation outright
was 146 to 180, with 17-abstentions. The vote on the mass privatization
program, which aims to privatize 600 selected firms and distribute
shares in 20 national investment funds to the general public,
had been delayed because the Sejm demanded an official reckoning
of the expected costs. Privatization Minister Janusz Lewandowski
reported that the program would begin to pay for itself as soon
as the first million citizens paid their minimal participation
fees. Some 1020-million Poles are expected to take part in the
mass privatization program. (Louisa Vinton)

POLAND PLANS DEFENSE ACCORDS WITH NEIGHBORS. Defense Minister
Janusz Onyszkiewicz told a press conference on 2 October that
Poland plans to sign military cooperation agreements with Germany,
Russia, Ukraine, and Lithuania in the near future. These agreements
will resemble those Poland has already concluded with Hungary,
France, and Latvia. Onyszkiewicz added that the defense ministry
will not take an official stance on the issue of Col. Ryszard
Kuklinski, the Polish officer who spied for the CIA for eleven
years. There were many "question marks" about Kuklinski's behavior,
Onyszkiewicz said, adding that Kuklinski had access only to those
Warsaw Pact operational plans that involved the participation
of Polish armed forces. (Louisa Vinton)

SLOVENIAN ELECTIONS IN DECEMBER. Slovenia's first multiparty
parliamentary and presidential elections since declaring independence
from Yugoslavia in June 1991 will be held on 6 December. A second
round is scheduled on 20 December for candidates failing to win
more than 50% of the vote. There are currently eight presidential
candidates, including the current president, Milan Kucan. Kucan,
a former chairman of the Slovenian League of Communists, won
in a run-off election in April 1990 during Slovenia's first multiparty
elections since 1938. Recent polls show that Kucan is the republic's
most popular politician. Radio Slovenia carried the report on
1-October. (Milan Andrejevich)

HUNGARY TO RESTORE NAGYMAROS LANDSCAPE. The Hungarian government
approved a plan to restore the landscape at Nagymaros, the Hungarian
section of the joint Hungarian-Czechoslovak Gabcikovo-Nagymaros
hydroelectric power project, MTI reports. If parliament votes
to accept the plan in the coming weeks, work on restoring the
landscape can begin next spring and is expected to take two and
a half years. The major work involves removing the dam, filling
the Danube river bed, and making the river navigable. Costs are
estimated at over 7 billion forint. State Secretary in the Ministry
of Transportation, Communications, and Water Conservation Zsolt
Rajkai said that normal operations of the Gabcikovo dam on the
Slovak side should not cause problems, but a peak operation raises
the danger of flooding for both sides. Hungary started construction
at Nagymaros in 1977 but pulled out of the joint project in 1989
because of environmental concerns. (Edith Oltay)

ALBANIAN ECONOMY ON VERGE OF COLLAPSE. A study appearing in Business
Eastern Europe, the weekly of the private consulting group, Business
International, says industrial output in Europe's poorest country
will likely drop by 17% this year to a level only 35% of what
it was in 1990, at the time of the fall of the communist regime.
Only one-third of the 300-largest enterprises are operating,
unemployment in industry is at 50% and rising, and inflation,
currently at about 220%, could shoot up as well. Foreign aid
to Albania remains vital, the report says. At the same time Reuters
reports that during a 3-October visit, Prime Minister Alexander
Meksi secured an additional $30 million in emergency aid from
Italy, the main donor nation to Albania, and established formal
bilateral economic relations. (Charles Trumbull)

OIL SPILL IN BELARUS APPROACHING LITHUANIA. On 3 October the
Lithuanian Environmental Protection Department reported that
nearly 200 tons of oil, spilled into the Nemunas River when a
deranged person pried open oil containers at a furniture factory
70-kilometers from Grodno, are approaching Lithuania, BNS reports.
Only a small portion of the Nemunas bank has been contaminated
and workers at Druskininkai, Alytus, and Prienai have built barriers
of hay to prevent the further spread of the contamination. (Saulius
Girnius)

SKINHEADS ATTACK GERMANS IN CRACOW. Three German truck drivers
were attacked by skinheads in Nowa Huta, near Cracow, on the
night of 1 October. One of the Germans died as a result of injuries
suffered in the attack. Cracow police apprehended a group of
10 teenage suspects and placed four under arrest. About 100 skinheads
waged a battle with police in the center of Cracow on the night
of 2 October. One policeman was seriously injured. Prime Minister
Hanna Suchocka expressed "deep sorrow and regret" at the incident,
according to PAP. Hundreds of horrified Cracow residents placed
flowers and lit candles at the site of the attack. (Louisa Vinton)


[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull