LOOTED ART A MAJOR ISSUE, BONN SAYS.

German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel welcomed the Russian Federation Council’s "positive signal" in blocking on July 17 the Duma’s bill, which would have declared art works seized by the Red Army from other countries — mainly Germany — as Russian state property. In a special statement distributed in Moscow yesterday, Kinkel urged the Russian side to understand that "the issue of restitution is not a secondary one, but an integral component of German-Russian relations." (Interfax, July 18)

Moscow Mayor Denies Charges of Ethnic Prejudice.