President Boris Yeltsin told journalists that he has signed a decree on the creation of a Special Task Force Against Terrorism. The unit will be subordinated directly to him and will include about 1,000 officers, recruited from almost all Russian law enforcement, security, and intelligence... MORE

On Sunday, Boris Yeltsin left Moscow for a two-week vacation in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. Iran Says Yeltsin Accepted Invitation.

Iran's ambassador to Russia Mehdi Safari told a Moscow news conference that Boris Yeltsin has accepted an invitation to visit Iran, though the time of the visit has not been fixed yet. Chorus of Russian Leaders Attacks Russian Position, Warns West.

In their Saturday session, Duma deputies heatedly denounced Foreign Minister

At its September 10 special session, "on NATO's unleashing war in the Balkans," the Duma voted 258-2 for a set of resolutions which included: --The Russian government should call a UN Security Council session to examine the "aggression" and "mass-scale killings of civilians" by NATO... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin's first solo news conference in Russia in nearly one year (see Monitor, September 8) was reported by Russian media later that day and on September 9 to include the following remarks by Yeltsin: --In the event of NATO's enlargement, Russia "would... MORE

In Ashgabat September 7, the Turkmen and Pakistani presidents Saparmurat Niyazov and Farooq Leghari discussed plans for a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to the Indian Ocean via Afghanistan and Pakistan. The plans envisage pumping 20 billion cubic meters of gas annually. The presidents agreed that... MORE

Boris Yeltsin, Viktor Chernomyrdin, and other Russian officials conferred September 7 in the Kremlin with Tajik president Emomali Rakhmonov. According to official accounts, Yeltsin commented that "many things are cause for worry" in that country and that Russia "is also having a difficult time along... MORE

Vladimir Shumeiko, chairman of the Russian Federation Council and of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, briefed Boris Yeltsin September 7 on the meeting of Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian parliamentary leaders which Shumeiko chaired September 4-6 in St. Petersburg. The meeting adopted a lowest-common-denominator statement expressing readiness... MORE

Meeting in Tallinn September 7, the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian presidents Lennart Meri, Guntis Ulmanis, and Algirdas Brazauskas reiterated their countries' intent to join NATO "as soon as possible" and to prepare themselves for meeting NATO standards. In their joint statement, the presidents described NATO... MORE