ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS CLEAR THE AIR AFTER ARMED CLASHES.

In separate but apparently coordinated statements yesterday, Presidents Levon Ter-Petrosian of Armenia and Haidar Aliev of Azerbaijan declined to assign blame for the clashes of the last ten days, the most violent since the 1994 ceasefire on the Karabakh front. The presidents said that they had agreed by telephone to desist from establishing which side had fired first and who was responsible for the clashes, in which each side claimed to have inflicted substantial losses on the other. The defense ministers of the two countries also communicated with each other to end the clashes, the presidents said, and reaffirmed their intention to observe the ceasefire. (Interfax, Noyan-Tapan, Turan, April 21)

Tajik Prison Massacre Had Political Implications.