No. 206, 28 October 1994

                              RUSSIA

GOVERNMENT SURVIVES NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE. Viktor Chernomyrdin's
government survived a vote of no confidence in the State Duma
initiated by the Communists and their allies, agencies reported on
27 October. Of the 450 deputies in the lower house, 194 voted
against the government, 54 voted for it, 55 abstained, and 147
were absent. The opposition was thus 32 votes short of the
majority required. The result has been viewed as a personal
victory for President Boris Yeltsin, who managed to split the
opposition by appointing Aleksandr Nazarchuk, a member of the
Agrarian Party, as the new minister of agriculture before the vote
was taken. As a result, the Agrarians, who generally work with the
Communists, vowed not to vote against the government. The
significance of the no-confidence vote is marginal, as the Duma
has no power to force the government to resign but it can make
substantial amendments to the austere budget submitted by
Chernomyrdin earlier in the session. Announcing his proposals, the
prime minister said the time for moderate economic reforms was
over and stressed the importance of the fight against inflation.
He added that only strict financial discipline would lead to
economic stabilization and enable Russia to obtain the loans it
has requested from the International Monetary Fund. -- Victor
Yasmann, RFE/RL, Inc.

YAVLINSKY: "YELTSIN'S REFORM POTENTIAL EXHAUSTED." The liberal
Yabloko faction abstained from the vote of no confidence in the
Chernomyrdin government. In a statement read by the faction's
leader, the economist Grigorii Yavlinsky, Yabloko stressed the
need to amend the constitution to ensure that society had more
control over the authorities and to allow presidential elections
to be held in 1995. Yabloko, Yavlinsky said, believed that it was
"senseless to discuss the question of the government separately
from the issue of the president." The faction noted Yeltsin's
contribution to the dismantling of the totalitarian system in
Russia, but added "we, the democratic opposition, regard his
mission as complete and his reform potential as exhausted,"
Interfax reported. -- Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.

OVER 5 MILLION SAID TO HAVE TAKEN PART IN UNION RALLIES. Union
officials estimate that more than 5 million people took part in
rallies on the trade unions' "Day of Action" on 27 October, an
RFE/RL correspondent reported. Participants were demanding payment
of back wages, in some cases owed since July, and protesting
against the closure of many Russian industrial enterprises and
growing unemployment. According to Russian TV news, 50,000
attended rallies in St. Petersburg and 300,000 in Primorsky Krai;
in general, turnout was said to be unprecedentedly high. The
demonstration in Moscow, intended by its organizers to focus
purely on economic grievances, was disrupted by militant
Communists belonging to Viktor Anpilov's Workers' Russia movement.
In other places, however, the event could hardly be termed
"nonpolitical," as protesters called for the immediate resignation
of the president and the government. -- Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL,
Inc.

GORBACHEV CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE PARLIAMENTARY AND PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS. Former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev has joined the
campaign for immediate elections to the Presidency and the
parliament. In a statement reported by ITAR-TASS and Interfax on
26 October, Gorbachev said that under Yeltsin, "the country is
being pushed into an abyss of military coups and a protracted
period of social misery and decay." According to Gorbachev, the
only way to save Russia is to call "free democratic elections" to
all branches of the government. "Only democracy," he said, "can
strengthen Russia's young statehood." Similarly, in a speech to
the Moscow Institute of Youth, Gorbachev compared the Russian
government to a "fire brigade." They merely put out fires,
Gorbachev said, while Russia needs people capable of preventing
them from flaring up, RFE/RL's Russian service reported on 27
October. Gorbachev said that he did not intend to run for the
Presidency in the next elections but refused to name the candidate
he supports "until the election campaign is announced officially."
-- Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.

CHERNOMYRDIN VOWS RUSSIA WILL KEEP KURILS. The prime minister told
the State Duma on 27 October that the four islands in the southern
Kuril chain claimed by Japan "were, are, and will remain Russian."
According to Interfax, he said that the return of the islands to
Japan could not even be discussed hypothetically. The USSR seized
the islands in the last weeks of World War II. Yeltsin has
indicated that he would honor a 1956 Soviet/Japanese agreement
whereby two of the islands would be returned to Japan in exchange
for a peace treaty. Chernomyrdin, on the other hand, has always
followed a harder line on the disputed islands, and his position
has been echoed in the military and the State Duma. -- Doug
Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.

LEBED DETERS BURLAKOV. Russia's Defense Ministry told ITAR-TASS on
27 October that Deputy Minister of Defense Colonel General Matvei
Burlakov did not plan to inspect the 14th Army in Moldova. The
demurral on Burlakov's behalf follows statements by the 14th
Army's commander, Lieutenant General Aleksandr Lebed, reported by
Novosti TV, Basapress, and ITAR-TASS on 25, 26, and 27 October,
respectively, terming Burlakov "a common swindler"; vowing to
prevent him inspecting the 14th Army; and threatening to confront
him at Tiraspol airport, "arrange a scandal, and send him back to
Moscow on the same plane." Lebed's statements also implicitly
challenge Defense Minister Pavel Grachev, who recently picked
Burlakov as deputy defense minister despite Burlakov's alleged
involvement in illegal business activities while serving as the
last commander of Russian forces in Germany. Obliquely also
challenging Yeltsin, Lebed opined that Grachev should have been
dismissed following the recent assassination of the Moskovsky
komsomolets reporter Dmitrii Kholodov, who was investigating
corruption in the military. -- Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.

LEGISLATORS AGAINST NEW COSMODROME. On 24 October the Russian
parliament's defense committee rejected a request from the
military Space Forces that a new space launching complex be built
in the Far East, according to a 26 October Interfax report. The
Space Forces want to build two new launch sites for the Angara
rocket, Russia's next generation heavy-lift booster. The committee
reportedly argued that Russia and Kazakhstan had just agreed that
the Space Forces could use the Baikonur cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan--which has pads for the Proton heavy-lift booster--for
the next 20 years, and that there was already a program for
building Angara launch pads at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern
Russia. The Space Forces will still be able to go ahead with their
plans to launch Rokot light-lift boosters from the former Far East
missile base Svobodny-18, since little new infrastructure is
required. -- Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.

MONEY WOES DELAY SATELLITE LAUNCH. The military Space Forces had
to postpone the launch of a weather satellite from the Baikonur
cosmodrome because the factory supplying the special fuel refused
to ship it before receiving payment. Interfax said on 27 October
that the problem had been resolved and the fuel was now on its way
but the launch--originally scheduled for 26 October--would be
delayed by at least a week. -- Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.

FSK OFFICER KILLED BY EXPLOSIVE DEVICE. Lieutenant Colonel of the
Federal Counterintelligence Service Mikhail Chekanov was killed
when he tried to defuse an explosive device discovered in the
office of a company in Moscow, ITAR-TASS reported on 27 October.
Another FSK officer was badly wounded. FSK spokesman Aleksandr
Mikhailov did not say who planted the bomb but said that the
number of such explosions had sharply increased this year. He also
noted that criminals were using both homemade and state-produced
devices. -- Victor Yasmann, RFE/RL, Inc.

                  TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

TAJIK PEACE TALKS DEADLOCKED. The third round of UN-sponsored
peace talks in Islamabad between Tajik government and opposition
representatives appeared deadlocked on 27 October after the
government rejected the opposition's conditions for extending the
current cease-fire, Reuters and Interfax reported. The opposition
is demanding the release of all political prisoners, unhampered
deliveries of food and medical supplies to opposition groups in
Gorno-Badakhshan, and the creation of security zones monitored by
CIS troops. On 27 October Tajikistan's permanent representative to
the UN, Lakim Kayumov, again requested that the UN Security
Council bestow on the CIS peacekeeping contingent in Tajikistan
the status of a peacekeeping operation under the aegis of the UN,
ITAR-TASS reported. Also on 27 October, the chairman of the Tajik
parliamentary commission for legislation, public order, and human
rights, Safarali Radzhabov, told Interfax that the imposition of a
state of emergency and curfew in Gorno-Badakhshan violated the
Tajik Constitution and therefore lacked legal force; he further
said that there were no objective reasons for imposing a state of
emergency in the region. -- Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.

GEORGIAN JOURNALIST MURDERED. Zurab Grdzelishvili, a special
correspondent for the Georgian Information Agency who reportedly
also owned a currency exchange office, was found shot dead in
Tbilisi late on 26 October, ITAR-TASS reported on 27 October.
Georgian police are investigating the murder. -- Liz Fuller,
RFE/RL, Inc.

                               CIS

RUSSIA NOT CLOSE, OTHERS NEARER TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE MEMBERSHIP.
The secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Daniel Tarschys,
told journalists in Bern, Switzerland on 27 October that Russia
should not count on easy or speedy admission to the CE next year,
ITAR-TASS reported on 27 October. He cited the underdeveloped
state of legal institutions, inadequate protection of human
rights, and the need for further development of democratic
processes in Russia. Tarschys, who recently visited Russia, also
based his conclusions on the findings of a team of four legal
experts of the CE, who assessed legal and democratic development
in Russia as "insufficient." The candidacies of Belarus, Latvia,
Moldova, and Ukraine for full membership next year are, however,
being viewed "positively" at the CE, the agency quoted Tarschys as
saying. -- Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.

PRESIDENTS ATTEND TURKMEN PIPELINE CEREMONY. On 27 October
Saparmurad Niyazov, Heidar Aliev, Suleyman Demirel, and Hashemi
Rafsanjani, presidents of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and
Iran, respectively, attended the ceremonial welding in
Turkmenistan of two segments of a projected pipeline that will
carry Turkmen natural gas via Iran and Turkey to Europe. On the
preceding day in Ashgabat, an interstate agreement had been signed
on future deliveries of Turkmen gas via the pipeline to Turkey, in
amounts due to rise from 2 billion cubic meters in 1998 to 15
billion by 2010. The projected pipeline is meant to provide an
alternative export outlet that is not controlled by Russia and
bypasses its territory. The signing ceremony, reported by
ITAR-TASS on 27 October, was held on the third anniversary of
Turkmenistan's referendum on state independence. The independence
anniversary celebrations were also attended by Pakistan's Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto, who signed a number of bilateral economic
agreements including one extending $10 million credit to
Turkmenistan, ITAR-TASS reported on 26 October. -- Vladimir Socor
and Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.

ALBRIGHT ON RUSSIAN POLICIES TOWARD NEWLY INDEPENDENT STATES. In
an address to the Polish-American Congress in New York, reported
by ITAR-TASS on 25 October, the US Representative to the UN,
Madeleine Albright, said that "Russia has a right like any other
nation to look after its interests," "but that right cannot be
exercised in violation of the sovereignty and independence of
other states . . . Russia's policies and actions must reflect the
fact that it is no longer surrounded by vassals, but by
independent sovereign states." Citing Lebed's recent condemnation
of her for having urged the withdrawal of Russian troops from
Moldova, Albright said that "for me, that condemnation is a badge
of honor." She noted the signing of the Russian-Moldovan troop
withdrawal agreement and pledged that "the US will help to see
that the agreement is carried out." -- Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL,
Inc.

                    CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

BOSNIAN ARMY ROUTS SERBS. International media continued to report
on 27 and 28 October on the offensive by the Bosnian government's
Fifth Corps in the Bihac area. The advance involved a two-pronged
offensive, with one column moving east out of Bihac to secure the
Grabez plateau and move on to Bosanska Krupa and the other
pressing south toward Bosanski Petrovac to end the isolation of
the "Bihac pocket." UN spokesmen said the Serbs were caught off
guard, that "their command and control system is gone," and that
their forces "crumbled," sending 7,000 civilians and soldiers
fleeing. They also left two tanks and other equipment behind,
which is not characteristic for retreating Serb forces and
underscores just how much of a surprise the offensive was. The
Serbs acknowledged "immense material damage and losses" but did
not indicate whether a counteroffensive is in the offing. The
Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje said "a huge turnabout seems to be
taking place," although other observers were more cautious.
Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic nonetheless said his forces
could have done even better with more weapons: "Had we had arms
before, there would have been peace a long time ago," he
commented. Finally, other fighting was reported near Bugojno,
Kupres, Doboj, and in the Posavina area. -- Patrick Moore, RFE/RL,
Inc.

OTHER NEWS FROM FORMER YUGOSLAVIA. AFP on 27 October quoted UN
spokesman Thant Myint-U as calling Serb behavior "deliberate,
hostile, and provocative" in continuing to block fuel convoys
headed for Sarajevo and the eastern Bosnian enclaves. Reuters
reported that the first publicly acknowledged talks in seven
months between Croatia and its Serb rebels took place in Zagreb,
with the next round slated for 3 November in Serb-held Topusko.
Mediators called the talks "constructive," but Serb spokesmen
avoided talking to journalists. Croatian negotiator Hrvoje Sarinic
said specific infrastructure issues had been discussed, but he
insisted that Serb strongman Milan Babic must end his boycott and
attend the next round for the talks to be serious. He also said
Croatia would never consent to a Serb "state within a state."
Meanwhile, Hina reported that the number of foreign tourists
visiting Croatia in 1994 was up 55% over the previous year.
Tourism has long been a major source of hard-currency income but
suffered badly as a result of the 1991 war. Finally, Reuters
reported from Rome that Italian and Slovenian foreign ministers
met but were unable to resolve their dispute over property claims
filed by Italians who fled what became Slovenia at the end of
World War II. The ministers had wanted to reach an agreement
before 31 October, when the EU is to discuss Slovenia's
application for associate membership. -- Patrick Moore, RFE/RL,
Inc.

SERBIA'S NEW DEMOCRACY WILL CONTINUE BACKING SOCIALISTS. Borba on
28 October reports that New Democracy, at a party executive
meeting the previous day, reaffirmed its de facto alliance with
Serbia's ruling Socialist Party of Serbia. The 123 SPS deputies in
the republic's 250-seat legislature have the backing of New
Democracy's six parliamentary deputies, giving them a stable
majority. Borba says that New Democracy, impressed by the SPS's
apparent commitment to such goals as reforming the economy and
combating crime, continues to "extend its full support to the
government of Mirko Marjanovic." -- Stan Markotich, RFE/RL, Inc.

POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER RESIGNS. Andrzej Olechowski on 27 October
resigned over charges that he had broken the law banning
government officials from receiving subsidiary incomes by sitting
on the boards of companies in which the state has a stake. Gazeta
Wyborcza on 28 October quotes Olechowski as saying that "board
membership is not a public function" and that a court should
decide what is legal or not. He said he "had a clear conscience"
and would take the case to court. To take effect, his resignation
has to be approved by Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak. There has
been no reaction yet from the Prime Minister's Office, while
numerous politicians of various stripes are reported to have urged
Pawlak to reject Olechowski's resignation. -- Jan de Weydenthal,
RFE/RL, Inc.

WALESA ASKS FOR STRONG EXECUTIVE POWERS. President Lech Walesa on
27 October told a nationwide television audience that Poland
"needs order and strong government." He added that "a popularly
elected president will . . . govern responsibly and will
forcefully introduce order in the country. He will [be
responsible] only to God and the constitution." Walesa also
accused the current government and parliament of being responsible
for economic disarray, the decline of educational and social
services, the increase in crime, and widespread corruption. Walesa
said he would run for reelection in 1995, provided that "there is
a possibility of serving the country effectively." Polish media
reported that the president's speech was generally seen as part of
his unfolding election campaign. It is unlikely that it will sway
parliamentarians working on the draft constitution. Rzeczpospolita
on 28 October reports that in a recent nationwide opinion poll,
31% of the respondents expressed confidence in Walesa's
leadership, while 48% had no trust in him. -- Jan de Weydenthal,
RFE/RL, Inc.

CHANGES IN CZECH CITIZENSHIP LAW URGED. CTK on 27 October reported
that the US Congress's Commission on Security and Cooperation in
Europe has sent a letter to Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus
asking him to push for changes in the Czech Republic's citizenship
law. The letter says the law discriminates against the Czech
Republic's Gypsies--the largest ethnic minority in the
country--depriving them of citizenship on a scale unprecedented
since World War II. Specifically, it notes that people are
deprived of citizenship on the basis of crimes committed before
the law took effect. The Czech Constitutional Court rejected this
summer an appeal by 46 deputies to amend the law and claimed it
was not discriminatory. The law was severely criticized in
September by representatives of the Council of Europe and the CSCE
at a meeting held in Warsaw to discuss issues concerning Gypsies.
-- Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.

SLOVAK CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DISMISSES CASES. The Constitutional
Court on 27 October dismissed a complaint filed by the Movement
for a Democratic Slovakia and Slovak National Party about the
Democratic Union's eligibility to participate in elections. It
also rejected the union's complaint about MDS Chairman Vladimir
Meciar's appearance on Slovak Television during the elections,
TASR reports. Before the decision was announced, Meciar said that
if the court failed to rule against the Democratic Union, the
matter would "have to come under parliamentary control." Prime
Minister Jozef Moravcik responded by saying such a view
constitutes "a real threat" since Meciar is trying to "cast doubt
on every state institution" in order to realize his "vision of a
political arrangement based on a strong personality." -- Sharon
Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.

MECIAR ASKS KOVAC FOR MORE TIME TO FORM CABINET. Slovak President
Michal Kovac on 27 October met separately with officials from each
party with parliamentary representation, TASR reports. Most agreed
that Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Chairman Vladimir Meciar
should be given the chance to set up a government. Meeting with
Kovac for the first time since the elections, Meciar told the
president he will report to him again on 31 October, after the MDS
Republican Council has met to make a decision on the party's next
steps. Meciar rejected the possibility of new elections, saying
the MDS needs to find partners to form a stable cabinet. -- Sharon
Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.

HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT COMPLETES 1995 BUDGET DRAFT. MTI on 27
October reported that the Hungarian government has finished
drafting the 1995 budget and will submit it to the parliament and
various interest groups next week. The draft provides for a
deficit of 282.7 billion forint ($2.8 billion) or 5.5 percent of
estimated GDP, excluding interest payments on the accumulated
debt. Taxes on reinvested profits will be lowered, donations to
various foundations will be tax-free, and company cars used
privately will be taxed. Government housing assistance will be
increased significantly: in particular, families with three
children who are buying accommodation will be given government aid
to the tune of 2.2 million forint ($22,000). The government also
decided to forgive a 70 billion forint ($700 million) debt
accumulated by the State Railroads and suggested closing some 900
kilometers of track. -- Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL, Inc.

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL IN ROMANIA. Boutros Boutros Ghali on 27
October began a three-day visit to Romania, Radio Bucharest
reports. He is scheduled to meet with Romanian President Ion
Iliescu, Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu, Foreign Minister Teodor
Melescanu, and other top Romanian officials. Topics to be
discussed include Romania's role in international peacekeeping
operations, the situation in former Yugoslavia, and other issues
of common interest. Boutros Ghali, addressing a joint session of
the two chambers of the Romanian parliament, said the end of the
Cold War has brought a new "era of uncertainties." He also noted
the threat to peace and democracy posed by "irrational and
fanatical thinking." -- Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.

ROMANIAN MEDICAL UNIT RETURNS FROM SOMALIA. A Romanian medical
unit operating in Somalia as part of the UN peacekeeping force
stationed there has returned to Bucharest, an RFE/RL correspondent
and Radio Bucharest reported on 27 October. A spokeswoman for the
Romanian Defense Ministry said the early return from Mogadishu of
the 236 Romanian medical staffers was part of a larger plan to
reduce the number of UN troops in Somalia. -- Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL,
Inc.

MOLDOVA SEES "DANGEROUS TURN" IN ROMANIAN POLICY. The government
daily Nezavisimaya Moldova, in an editorial published on 27
October and reported by ITAR-TASS, condemned Bucharest's recent
gestures of support for pro-Romanian groups in Chisinau and its
official statements denying the legitimacy of Moldovan statehood
and envisaging eventual unification. The editorial termed this "a
dangerous turn" in the policy of Romania's ruling Party of Social
Democracy aimed at gaining electoral advantage but jeopardizing
Romania's relations with Moldova. -- Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.

CANADIAN CONFERENCE ON AID TO UKRAINE. Ukrainian President Leonid
Kuchma, attending a conference on economic aid to Ukraine in
Winnepeg on 27 October, called for $5.5 billion in aid to help
with Ukraine's economic reforms, the closure of the Chornobyl
nuclear power plant, and improved safety measures at other nuclear
power stations, international agencies reported. The conference
was attended by representatives of the G-7 and Ukraine's main
creditors--Turkmenistan and Russia. Russian Foreign Minister
Andrei Kozyrev told the conference delegates that Ukraine could
defer payment of its $635 million debt to Russia until February.
Ukraine owes Russia a total of $2.7 billion. Kozyrev also called
upon the international community to grant Ukraine a $600 million
credit to guarantee Ukraine's energy supplies from Russia until
the end of the year. He pointed out that Russia was already
helping Ukraine by charging only $50 per cubic meter of natural
gas, while the world price was $70 per cubic meter. Kozyrev also
urged Ukraine to accept the "zero option" by handing over its
share of Soviet assets in return for debt relief. -- Ustina
Markus, RFE/RL, Inc.

UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY ON THE ARMED FORCES. The press office
of Ukraine's Defense Ministry on 26 October said the Supreme
Council has confirmed that the country's armed forces should have
450,000 personnel, Ukrainian Television reported. In accordance
with this decision, the Defense Ministry is reducing its number of
units. The announcement also said that in dismantling equipment
under the terms of the CFE treaty, Ukraine is only destroying old
equipment. This means that neither the quality nor the readiness
of the armed forces has been affected, it added. -- Ustina Markus,
RFE/RL, Inc.

LUKASHENKA'S FIRST 100 DAYS. Belinform-TASS on 27 October--100
days after Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka took
office--reported the results of an opinion poll by the
sociological survey service Belaruskyi Barometer. The poll
suggests that 39.2% of Belarusians believe their president is not
particularly gifted but sincere in his goals; 55.8% do not believe
he will be able to pull Belarus out of its economic crisis; and
only 38.9% believe their living standards will improve under
Lukashenka. On a more positive note, 64.4% say they have at least
some degree of confidence in the president. In another poll
conducted in Minsk by Interfax, only 16.9% of the respondents
believe Lukashenka is leading the country in the right direction;
19.7% said the direction was wrong; 41% said he was partly on the
right track; and 20.6% were unsure. Only 20% of the respondents
said he had put together a strong team, while 46% said he lacked
the necessary experience to be president. 65.4% of farm workers
and 49.2% of "working class" people said they supported
Lukashenka. Asked who opposed Lukashenka, the respondents cited
the mafia, corrupt officials, and old-guard managers. Communists
and democrats were not considered to be his main enemies. --
Ustina Markus, RFE/RL, Inc.

ESTONIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW PREMIER. The Estonian parliament
on 27 October voted by 63 to 1 with 15 abstentions to authorize
acting Environment Minister Andres Tarand to form a new cabinet,
BNS reports. The 54-year-old Tarand received the support of the
Pro Patria and Moderate factions as well as most of the votes of
the National Independence Party, Liberal, and Rightist factions.
The one dissenting vote was by an independent deputy. Tarand has
seven days to submit his cabinet to President Lennart Meri for
approval. The parliament on 13 October rejected Meri's first
candidate--Bank of Estonia President Siim Kallas--by a vote of 40
to 55 with 5 abstentions. With parliament elections scheduled for
5 March 1995, Tarand said he did not plan to make any major policy
changes and would probably replace five ministers at most. --
Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.

LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN VISITS MOLDOVA, UKRAINE. Ceslovas
Jursenas on 25 October arrived in Chisinau for an official visit
aimed at improving bilateral political and economic relations. He
met the next day with President Mircea Snegur and addressed the
Moldovan parliament. Jursenas left for Kiev on 27 October where he
held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksander Moroz. He
will also meet with President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister
Vitalii Moroz, Radio Lithuania reports. -- Saulius Girnius,
RFE/RL, Inc.

PROSECUTION ASKS FOR DEATH PENALTY IN LINGYS TRIAL. Lithuanian
Prosecutor General Arturas Paulauskas on 27 October requested the
death sentence for Boris Dekanidze, charged with ordering the
murder of Respublika deputy editor Vitas Lingys, Radio Lithuania
reports. Paulauskas requested a life sentence for Igor Akhremov,
who admitted to shooting Lingys on 12 October 1993, and sentences
of 15 years for his accomplices, Boris Bobichenko and Viacheslav
Slavitskii. -- Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.

FORMER LATVIAN COMMANDER APPOINTED PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER. Colonel
Dainis Turlais, who resigned recently as commander of Latvia's
Defense Forces, has been appointed adviser on defense and
strategic planning issues to President Guntis Ulmanis. The
president's adviser on military matters, Gundars Zalkalns, told
Diena on 25 October that the position of commander of the Defense
Forces was eliminated when Latvia's National Armed Forces were
formed. He also noted that Defense Force units would now answer to
the staff of the National Armed Forces. Turlais left the following
day for the Netherlands to observe NATO maneuvers there, BNS
reported on 26 October. -- Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET] (Compiled by Jan Cleave and Penny Morvant)
The RFE/RL DAILY REPORT, produced by the RFE/RL Research
Institute (a division of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.)
with the assistance of the RFE/RL News and Current Affairs
Division, is available through electronic mail by subscribing to
RFERL-L at LISTSERV@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU
Inquiries about specific news items should be directed as
follows (please include your full postal address when inquiring
about subscriptions):

Mr. Brian Reed
RFE/RL, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 457-6912
Fax: (202) 457-6992
Internet: REEDB@RFERL.ORG

Copyright 1994, RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.