ROKHLIN SETS UP NEW DUMA GROUP.

A new group has been set up in the Russian Duma with the aim of sponsoring legislation to protect the interests of Russia’s armed forces. It is led by Gen. Lev Rokhlin, chairman of the Duma’s Committee on Defense, who last week left the pro-government "Russia is Our Home" faction (NDR). The new group is open to members of all factions and claims 146 members so far. Many are from the Communist and nationalist opposition. (RTR, September 12)

Rokhlin left NDR last week just before he was kicked out, but his quarrels with it are continuing. NDR is claiming that, because the chairmanship of the Defense Committee was assigned to them on the basis of an inter-faction agreement, Rokhlin must now give up the chairmanship and allow NDR to nominate a new chairman. Rokhlin has made it clear that he has no intention of giving up the chairmanship willingly.

Also last week, the Duma adopted in the first reading a bill on the Russian Security Council proposed by radical Communist parliamentarian Viktor Ilyukhin. The purpose of the bill is to confine the Security Council to administrative tasks and to subordinate it not only, as at present, to the president, but also to the Duma. The presidential representative to the Duma warned that Yeltsin will not agree to the bill in its present form. (RTR, September 12)

Dagomys Talks Produce Meager Results.