BELARUSAN COMMUNIST APPARATCHIK CONFIRMED AS PRIME MINISTER.

The Belarusan parliament yesterday confirmed Sergey Ling as prime minister. Ling, 59, a trained agronomist, previously served as chairman of the Minsk regional committee of the Communist Party of Belarus and Secretary of the party’s Central Committee. As acting prime minister since last November, Ling has implemented President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s measures aimed at reversing the incipient reforms of the preceding government. Ling’s predecessor, Mikhail Chyhir, resigned last November with a public declaration of "disagreement over the president’s policy course." Chyhir’s — and, briefly, Ling’s — colleague, Central Bank head Tamara Vinnikava, has been in jail since January 14 on unsubstantiated charges of abuse of office. Vinnikava had sought to liberalize currency regulations and the exchange rate of the devalued Belarus ruble. (Belapan, Itar-Tass, Interfax, February 18-19)

Moscow Seeks to Thwart Ukrainian Tank Sale to Pakistan.