No. 220, 13 November 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

CHECHEN FORCES ON HIGH ALERT. Chechen military forces were in
a state of high alert on 12-November because of Russia's decision
to suspend the withdrawal of troops from the disputed Chechen-Ingush
border area, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. Chechen president
Dzhokhar Dudaev called on all citizens to drive Russian troops
out of the area by force. He accused Russia of breaking its agreement
to withdraw. The press bureau of the Russian government said
that Russia halted its withdrawal only after Chechen units moved
into the area in violation of the agreement. (Ann Sheehy)

SHAKHRAI ARRIVES IN NORTH CAUCASUS. Sergei Shakhrai, the newly-appointed
Russian deputy prime minister in charge of nationalities affairs,
arrived in Vladikavkaz on 12-November to head the temporary administration
for North Ossetia and Ingushetia, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported.
Shakhrai was also granted special "coordination powers" for three
other North Caucasian republics-Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkesiya,
and Adigeya-as well as Stavropol and Krasnodar krais and Rostov
oblast. North Ossetian officials reported that a Russian soldier
and several civilians were among those killed in the republic
in isolated shooting incidents on 12-November. At the same time
the exchange of hostages continued. (Ann Sheehy)

STAROVOITOVA: RUSSIA NOT NEUTRAL IN OSSETIAN-INGUSH CONFLICT.
Interfax released on 12 November the full text of comments made
by Galina Starovoitova, Yeltsin's former adviser on ethnic affairs,
shortly before she was informed of her dismissal on 4-November.
Starovoitova said the Russian federal authorities were partly
to blame for the North Ossetian-Ingush conflict evolving into
armed confrontation. She also accused the Russian mass media
and the forces despatched to the region by the central government
of adopting a pro-Ossetian stance. It is possible that these
remarks precipitated the decision to dismiss Starovoitova, but
she had not been able to meet Yeltsin for some time before that.
(Ann Sheehy)

CIS HEADS OF GOVERNMENT TO DISCUSS CIS CHARTER. The CIS charter
will be the key item on the agenda of the meeting of CIS heads
of government on 13 November, ITAR-TASS reported on 12 November.
The charter was discussed at the meeting of CIS foreign ministers
on 12 November. The majority were in favor of continuing work
on the draft with a view to its being signed at the meeting of
the CIS heads of state on 4 December. Ukraine and Turkmenistan
were said to be inclined not to sign the document at all. Ashgabat
maintained that it was not ready for such a level of integration,
while Kiev, in the opinion of some who took part in the meeting,
seemed to be interested above all in deciding the property questions
arising from the collapse of the USSR. Russian First Deputy Foreign
Minister Anatolii Adamishin said that those states that were
ready for closer integration should go ahead without waiting
for the others. (Ann Sheehy)

CIS COMMANDER ON PEACEKEEPING FORCES AND UKRAINE. CIS armed forces
Deputy Commander in Chief Boris Pyankov told Interfax on 12-November
that the enduring potential for hostilities breaking out in the
CIS, particularly in Central Asia and the Caucasus, makes the
creation of CIS peacekeeping forces a necessity. Pyankov complained
that to date Russia appeared to be the only CIS country ready
to provide peacekeeping forces and, in the course of the interview,
suggested on several occasions that Ukrainian opposition had
proven to be the major stumbling block in the creation of regular
CIS forces. He urged that Russia maintain peacekeeping forces
as "fire brigades" prepared to intervene in conflicts at their
"embryonic stage." He specified that the decision to use peacekeeping
forces should be made by CIS heads of state, and that only following
such a decision would the allocated national forces come under
the command of the CIS joint armed forces. (Stephen Foye)

SHAPOSHNIKOV URGES NUCLEAR ARMS SUMMIT WITH UKRAINE. The Commander
in Chief of the CIS Joint Armed Forces, Evgenii Shaposhnikov
on 12 November called for a Russian-Ukrainian summit to discuss
the disposition of nuclear weapons still deployed in Ukraine,
Interfax reported. Shaposhnikov reiterated Moscow's view that
Russia alone should possess the former USSR's nuclear arsenal.
He also charged that the situation in Ukraine had become dangerous
because, in his view, Ukraine lacks experts to maintain the weapons.
Shaposhnikov spoke during a meeting of CIS Foreign Ministers
in Moscow. He also said that there were no nuclear weapons remaining
in CIS hotspots. (Stephen Foye)

UKRAINE SUSPENDS RUBLE. A decree signed by President Leonid Kravchuk
effectively pulls Ukraine out of the ruble zone, suspending the
ruble as legal tender as of today, various news agencies reported
on 12 November. The karbovanets becomes the official currency
unit of the nation fully replacing the ruble. The karbovanets
appeared earlier this year as coupons valid only for cash transactions,
but are now to be used in non-cash transactions, e.g. between
enterprises through bank accounts, as well. Ukrainians will be
able to exchange rubles for karbovanets at the rate of one to
one for at least the next three days before the Ukrainian central
bank establishes a new parity. Kravchuk pledged to maintain full
karbovanets-to-ruble convertibility. (Erik Whitlock)

YELTSIN STRENGTHENS POSITION. Russian President Boris Yeltsin
has managed to consolidate his political position on the eve
of the Congress of People's Deputies, slated to begin on 1 December.
According to a lead article in Nezavisimaya gazeta on 13-November,
Yeltsin will defend his reform policy at the Congress with a
strengthened team, in which all personal conflicts have been
resolved. The article stressed the importance of consolidating
relations between presidential bodies (e.g., the Security Council)
and the cabinet. It also noted that representatives of the Civic
Union, such as Vladimir Shumeiko, who had been included in the
government last May in order to slow the pace of reform, are
now defending the government's policy against the Civic Union.
Finally, a split has occurred inside the Civic Union, which now
seems less united than the reformist camp. (Alexander Rahr)

VOLSKY AND GAIDAR CLOSE TO COMPROMISE? The leader of the Civic
Union, Arkadii Volsky, has denied that the Civic Union's economic
program is an alternative to that of the government. Interfax
on 12-November quoted him as telling a meeting of the parliamentary
faction Democratic Center that the major difference between the
government and the Civic Union is that the latter wishes to preserve
state control over the economy during the transition to a market
economy. Acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar agreed at the same
meeting on the necessity to "regulate" the market economy from
above. He also agreed to take a closer look to the Chinese economic
model, favored by the Civic Union. Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi
and parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov attended the meeting
and called for a consolidation of all constructive forces. (Alexander
Rahr)

KOZYREV IN PARIS. "I am very much pleased with the interest and
understanding of our problems shown by the French leader," Russian
Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said following talks on 12 November
in Paris. He added that the French government regards Boris Yeltsin's
government as a reliable and stable partner. Kozyrev and French
Foreign Minister Roland Dumas signed eight agreements including
a preliminary accord on the safe destruction of nuclear weapons
in Russia and an agreement on providing France with Russian archival
documents. Kozyrev's visit is scheduled to continue until 14
November, ITAR-TASS reported. (Suzanne Crow)

FRANCE TO HELP RUSSIA DESTROY NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Russian Foreign
Minister Andrei Kozyrev and his French counterpart, Roland Dumas,
signed an agreement in Paris on 12 November under which France
will help Russia dismantle much of its nuclear arsenal. France
thus joins the United States and Great Britain in this effort.
Reuters quoted French defense officials as saying that the agreement
covered the transportation and storage of the nuclear warheads
but also the actual means of destruction. France will supply
sophisticated machines to cut up the weapons and extract the
nuclear material. The two countries will then conduct joint studies
to determine the best way of dealing with the recovered nuclear
material. It could either be stored, or used to fuel special
atomic reactors. (Doug Clarke)

KOKOSHIN ON STRATEGIC ROCKET FORCES. Russian First Deputy Defense
Minister Andrei Kokoshin said in an interview published in Izvestiya
on 13 November that Russia was "on the brink of the adoption
of very important decisions on the strategic nuclear forces."
The minister made the comment while visiting a strategic missile
division in Valday, in northwest Russia mid-way between Moscow
and St. Petersburg. The article indicated that the SS-17 strategic
missiles in the division-the only ones still on service-would
be phased out over the next two years, and that the SS-25 mobile
missiles now in Belarus would be redeployed to Valday. (Several
weeks ago authorities in Belarus said that the 81 SS-25s based
at Mozyr and Lida would be relocated to Russia in 1993 and 1994.)
The Izvestiya article also said that Russia would continue to
build SS-25s in 1993, but in the future "the strategic nuclear
forces are to have a fundamentally new, standardized missile
of the next generation." (Doug Clarke)

RUSSIAN OIL INDUSTRY TO BE PRIVATIZED. After weeks of heated
debate, the Russian parliament has approved the government's
decree on commercializing and privatizing state enterprises in
the oil industry, according to Interfax 12 November. The enterprises
are to be transformed into joint-stock companies by the end of
the year. Privatization will follow with the state maintaining
control of 38-40% of enterprise assets through a state holding
company, Rosneft. The decree reportedly permits foreigners to
hold only a 15% interest in companies. This percentage seems
low given the government's repeatedly professed belief that foreign
investment was the key to revitalizing the ailing Russian oil
sector. (Erik Whitlock)

RUBLE FALLS ANOTHER 3%. The ruble-to-dollar exchange rate rose
on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange to 419 on 12 November,
Biznes-TASS. The dollar began the day at 403 rubles. Volume traded
was 51.26 million dollars. (Erik Whitlock)

RUSSIAN LAW ON BANKRUPTCY PASSED. The Russian parliament has
passed on the second reading a law entitled "On the Bankruptcy
of Enterprises," according to Interfax and Reuters reports of
12-November. This law has been blocked in the past by reform
opponents and those who feared its implications for unemployment.
A final vote on the law still apparently has to take place once
legal experts have examined it. The law defines the procedure
for voluntary and compulsory liquidation of indebted enterprises.
Enterprises may be forcibly liquidated by the arbitration court,
and bankruptcy proceedings may be launched by either a debtor,
a creditor, or by the procurator. (Sheila Marnie)

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR ABKHAZ PEACE TALKS. UN Secretary-General
Boutros Ghali has asked UN Security Council members to call on
Georgians and Abkhaz "to meet at the highest level without preconditions
to establish an effective ceasefire and resume the peace process
in line with the 3 September agreement," AFP reported. The UN
could participate in such a meeting as an observer, and UN peacekeepers
could monitor a resultant agreement. Georgian parliament Chairman
Eduard Shevardnadze, who travelled to Abkhazia on 11-November,
was quoted by Interfax as telling Sukhumi residents that he thinks
the chances of a peaceful settlement of the conflict are more
remote now than before the 3-September agreement. (Liz Fuller)


KAZAKHSTAN SUSPENDS PRIVATIZATION PROGRAM. Kazakhstan's Prime
Minister Sergei Tereshchenko has told Interfax that the country's
privatization program has been halted until a "clear-cut mechanism"
for reappraising the value of fixed assets of manufacturing enterprises
can be introduced, the news agency reported on 12 November. Rapid
inflation is making it difficult to assess the true value of
such enterprises, which are next on the list of state assets
to be privatized. Housing, service and retail trade establishments
are already in the process of being sold or auctioned. Tereshchenko
said that the value of investment vouchers to be distributed
to the population would be expressed in "conditional units" rather
than rubles to protect them from inflation. (Bess Brown)

NAZARBAEV SAYS KAZAKHSTAN MUST FIND ITS OWN WAY OUT OF CRISIS.
In a closing speech to a meeting of oblast administrative chiefs
and chairmen of oblast soviets, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev
complained that his initiatives for the economic integration
of the CIS had not received support from other CIS leaders at
the Bishkek summit, and said that Kazakhstan must find its own
way out of the economic crisis. He also criticized his own government
for copying the Russian reform program, which is not going anywhere,
and called for strengthening of the powers of the presidency
in Kazakhstan so that he may institute anti-crisis measures and,
if necessary, dissolve the legislature. (Bess Brown)

TAJIK FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR STATE OF EMERGENCY. Tajikistan's
Foreign Minister Khudoberdy Kholiknazarov met with Russian Defense
Minister Pavel Grachev on 12-November and told Interfax that
a state of emergency should be declared in Tajikistan and enforced
by a Russian military division. The same day Kyrgyz President
Askar Akaev's press secretary told Interfax that Akaev wants
the UN to take on a peacekeeping role in Tajikistan. Akaev was
reported to be discussing the creation of a UN peacekeeping force
in Tajikistan with UN Special Envoy Raymond Sommereyns, whom
he told of a report that three people have already starved to
death as a result of various blockades that have made the food
situation in Tajikistan catastrophic. (Bess Brown)

MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT IN CENTRAL ASIA. Moldovan President Mircea
Snegur conferred and signed an interstate treaty and a trade
agreement with Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akayev in Bishkek
on 11 November. Snegur told a press conference that the two presidents
saw eye to eye on economic reforms and interethnic relations,
and agreed on the need to clearly distinguish between the right
of national self-determination and ethnic separatism, Interfax
and Radio Mayak reported. On 4 November, Snegur had signed with
Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev in Alma-Ata an interstate
treaty and a trade agreement, ITAR-TASS and Ostankino TV reported.
Turkmenistan asked Snegur to postpone his scheduled visit there,
apparently because of the Turkmen President's schedule of meetings
on the situation in Tajikistan. Snegur's trip reflects Moldova's
preference for direct bilateral ties with CIS member states as
opposed to proceeding through multilateral CIS structures. (Vladimir
Socor)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

BOSNIA UPDATE. World and local media report the latest cease-fire
in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been breached. The republic's Muslims,
Croats, and Serbs have accused each other of breaking the truce
they had all agreed to. Though the cease-fire seemed to be holding
in Sarajevo with only sporadic shelling around the city, heavy
fighting was reported in several war zones. Reports say 20 people
have been killed. Meanwhile, Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina are
to formally establish diplomatic relations on 13 November. Germany
becomes the second EC member after Denmark to establish formal
diplomatic ties with Bosnia. (Milan Andrejevich)

COSIC MIGHT SEND TROOPS INTO HERZEGOVINA. Radio Serbia and Politika
reported on 12-November that Dobrica Cosic, president of the
rump Yugoslavia, urgently appealed to UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali as well as to the UN Security Council and the EC,
to put pressure on Croatia and the Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina
to halt the fighting, especially in eastern Herzegovina. Cosic
also asked the UN to warn Croatia to stop provoking incidents
in the Prevlaka Peninsula on the Bay of Kotor, which he said
threaten UN-mediated agreements on the demilitarization of the
strategically important area on the Croatian-Montenegrin border.
Cosic accused Croatia of launching a major offensive in eastern
Herzegovina and said crimes committed against Serb civilians
"can be classified as genocide." He warned that if Croatia continues
to violate peace initiatives and agreements, "the Yugoslav Army
will be forced to take drastic measures to protect the Serbian
people in eastern Herzegovina and Montenegro." (Milan Andrejevich)


IS SOFIA LOOKING THE OTHER WAY? In an article in Die Zeit of
12 November, a correspondent claims the UN embargo against Serbia
is being systematically violated along Bulgaria's western borders
and that the government in Sofia has done nothing to stop it.
The correspondent says corrupt customs officials in the southern
town of Petrich regularly let through fuel deliveries destined
for Serbia. Members of an CSCE observer team told the German
daily that the situation is similar along the entire border,
and the head of the team in Bulgaria was quoted as saying that
the embargo is "an empty gesture." Earlier Bulgarian media carried
reports of individual motorists driving across the Bulgarian-Serbian
border with filled fuel tanks. (Kjell Engelbrekt)

BULGARIA PROTESTS DANUBE TOLLS. On 12-November Bulgaria joined
Hungary in protesting Belgrade's decision to introduce tolls
on Danube shipping. Bobi Mirchev of the Bulgarian Transport Ministry
told Reuters that, according to the Danube River Convention,
every state should maintain the waterway at its own expense.
For this reason the Bulgarian official rejected Belgrade's claim
that imposition of tolls is necessitated by the $10-12 million
it costs to keep its part of the Danube in good repair. (Kjell
Engelbrekt)

MACEDONIA'S NEIGHBORS READY TO SECURE BORDERS. Serbia, Albania,
and Bulgaria have expressed support for a Greek initiative to
guarantee the current borders of the ex-Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Reuters reports. On 12 November Greek Foreign Minister
Mihalis Papaconstantinou said the agreement shows that none of
the Balkan states has any designs on the former Yugoslav republic.
So far only Bulgaria and Turkey have recognized Macedonia as
an independent state, while Greece has blocked the EC from following
suit. Athens' initiative comes after outbreaks of violence in
Macedonia and growing speculation that the EC may soon move ahead
without Greece and end the republic's diplomatic isolation. Meanwhile,
Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov has asked UN Secretary-General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali to send peacekeeping troops to his country,
saying the situation has worsened since last week's clashes in
Skopje between Macedonian police and ethnic Albanians. (Kjell
Engelbrekt & Milan Andrejevich)

BERISHA IN SKOPJE. ATA reports on 11 November that Albanian President
Sali Berisha told CSCE representatives in Skopje that Albania
and the Albanians will always be an important factor for stability
and peace in the Balkans. He said he supports the efforts of
Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo's self-styled president, to settle the
problems in Kosovo through "dialogue and peaceful means." Berisha
called on Albanians to avoid provocations "organized by the Serbs,"
who are attempting to provoke conflicts in both Macedonia and
Kosovo. He also warned that the December elections in Serbia
will be "meaningless" because they might legalize the dictatorship
of Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic. (Milan Andrejevich)


SLOVAK PREMIER ON ARMS SALES. Speaking at a press conference
in Bratislava on 12-November, Vladimir Meciar said that "if there
is demand in politically low-risk countries for weapons produced
in Slovakia, the Slovak government will do nothing to prevent
arms sales." Asked whether such policy does not violate federal
laws, according to which only federal institutions can license
arms exports, Meciar replied that "this depends on the interpretation
of the laws," which is the domain of the constitutional court.
The Slovak premier confirmed that he will soon visit Russia but
denied reports that one of the objectives of his trip is to negotiate
arms exports to Russia. Slovak Foreign Minister Milan Knazko
told BBC that he was "surprised" by Meciar's statements because
"it is the federation that still decides about arms exports."
Knazko said that when Slovakia becomes an independent state,
the Slovak government will make its own decisions on arms sales
but that "currently such steps are not desirable." (Jiri Pehe)


GERMANY TO HELP BULGARIA REPATRIATE MIGRANTS. Under an agreement
signed in Bonn on 12 November, Germany will pay the Bulgarian
government 28 million marks over five years to repatriate Bulgarian
nationals who have been refused political asylum, Reuters reports.
German Interior Minister Rudolf Seiters said the money is earmarked
for the regions from which most migrants originate-Karlovo, Pleven,
and Pazardzhik-and will be used to establish education centers
for metal technology, electronics and woodwork. Some 25,000 Bulgarians,
mostly unskilled workers, have sought asylum in Germany this
year but have practically no chance to stay. Although politically
controversial, similar agreements have previously been signed
with Poland and Romania. (Kjell Engelbrekt)

ROMANIAN MINORITIES AGREE TO COOPERATE. The 13 parliamentary
representatives of Romania's smaller ethnic minorities decided
on 12-November to step up collaboration for the purpose of securing
their interests, Western agencies report. These deputies have
one seat each in the Chamber of Deputies according to a constitutional
provision for representation of ethnic minorities that do not
gain representation through the regular electoral process. The
13 met at the initiative of the German Democratic Forum. The
participants (not including the Hungarian Democratic Federation
of Romania, which gained representation through regular elections)
declared their loyalty to the state and called for the setting
up of a separate state secretariat for minority questions. They
also expressed regret that their parliamentary group had not
been consulted before formation of the new government. (Michael
Shafir)

HUNGARY BACKS AWAY FROM NEW TAXES. After a cabinet meeting on
12 November, a government spokesperson said that the present
tax-free status of basic foodstuffs could be maintained in 1993
instead of the planned 8% rise, Hungarian Radio reports. In addition,
apartment and house sales will be exempt from the planned 25%
value-added taxes for two more years. The government's retreat
came after heated opposition to the planned new taxes, some of
which came from government coalition party members. (Karoly Okolicsanyi)


BIG BUSINESS TO GET TAX BREAKS IN ESTONIA? During his two-day
trip through northeastern Estonia, Prime Minister Mart Laar told
a trade union council in Narva that the tax debts of Estonia's
large enterprises will be frozen for a certain time to help stabilize
the economy, BNS reported on 12 November. Trade union leaders
asked Laar to lower the value-added tax on food and to reform
the corporate tax system to encourage investment. Laar reportedly
told them that a lowered VAT would not lower prices, but that
the government plans to revamp the tax system. Laar added that
they can not expect foreign investments in the area until potential
investors are assured of the area's political stability. (Riina
Kionka)

ON LATVIA'S AGENDA: LEGAL PROSTITUTION, SUGAR SHORTAGE. The Supreme
Council Committee on Commerce and Public Services on 12-November
recommended legalizing prostitution, BNS reports. The committee
voted 4-0 to recommend legalization, with one abstention from
chairman Alfreds Cepanis, who declined to vote, saying Latvia
faces more urgent problems than whether or not to legalize prostitution.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Council's agriculture faction met with
sugar refiners and distributors in hopes of averting a sugar
shortage. According to BNS of 12 November, Latvia's sugar producers
have cut back on raising sugar beets because cultivation costs
are high while wholesale prices are low. The deputies resolved
to try raising duties on imported sugar to help the local farmers.
(Riina Kionka)

LANDSBERGIS COMMENTS ON BRUSSELS TRIP. On 12 November at a press
conference in Vilnius broadcast live by Radio Lithuania, Chairman
of the Supreme Council Vytautas Landsbergis reported on his recent
trip to Brussels, where he spoke about developments in the European
Community. He distributed copies of the speech on the Baltic
States and their relations with the EC that he had given at the
conference. During a stopover in Warsaw Landsbergis sent a telegram
to President Lech Walesa on the occasion of the Polish independence
day. (Saulius Girnius)

LITHUANIA AND THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE. At the same press conference
Adolfas Venckus, ambassador to the EC and NATO, noted that Lithuania
would have already been admitted to the Council of Europe if
the European Parliament had not decided to tie Lithuania's membership
to those of Estonia and Latvia-which were being delayed due to
their "inflexible laws on citizenship." (Saulius Girnius)

ABISALA CONTINUES WASHINGTON VISIT. On 12 November Lithuanian
Prime Minister Aleksandras Abisala held an hour-long meeting
with Acting Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger and signed
an agreement to allow Lithuania to apply for permission to fish
within America's 200-mile exclusive economic zone, Radio Lithuania
reports. He also held meetings with Undersecretary of Defense
Paul Wolfowitz and Trade Representative Carla Hills. On 13 November
Abisala is scheduled to have talks with IMF Managing Director
Michel Camdessus and USAID Administrator Ronald Roskins and will
attempt to phone president-elect Bill Clinton or Al Gore. (Saulius
Girnius)

LITHUANIAN SUPREME COUNCIL SESSION. On 12 November the Supreme
Council Presidium called a special plenary session for 19 November,
Radio Lithuania reports. One of the main issues to be discussed
will be an act on the formal restoration of the Lithuanian army.
Chairman of the parliament's National Defense and Internal Affairs
Commission, Saulius Peceliunas, said that the act would be only
ceremonial-simply a declaration that the army exists. Nothing
in the current defense system would change. (Saulius Girnius)


DUBCEK AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Alexander Dubcek, leader of the 1968 Prague
Spring who died on 7-November, finished work on his autobiography
four weeks before the accident on 1 September in which he suffered
fatal injuries. Jiri Hochman, a prominent Czech journalist in
1968 who currently teaches history at Ohio State University,
told reporters on 12-November that he and Dubcek had completed
the draft. Among other things, the book recounts Dubcek's kidnapping
the day after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia on 21
August 1968 and describes his interrogation by CPSU General Secretary
Leonid Brezhnev and Soviet Prime Minister Aleksei Kosygin. The
draft, entitled "Hope Dies Last," is now being reviewed by Dubcek's
sons and associates for publication on 1 May 1993 in 10 languages
by the Japanese publisher, Kodansha. Dubcek will be buried on
14 November in Bratislava. (Jiri Pehe)

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