RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER URGES RATIFICATION OF START II.

Russian defense minister Igor Sergeev — until recently head of the Strategic Rocket Forces — yesterday again urged that the START II nuclear arms reduction treaty be ratified and that negotiations begin on the follow-on START III. He said he could justify START II on military, political, and economic grounds. (Russian agencies, September 2)

Sodirov Redivivus In Tajikistan.