BELARUSAN COMMUNISTS PURGE LUKASHENKA’S SUPPORTERS.

A Central Committee plenum of the Party of Communists of Belarus yesterday expelled 23 party members, former deputies of the legitimate parliament, who have accepted seats in the lower house of the parliament formed by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The PCB had earlier expelled the new lower house’s chairman, Anatol Malafeyev. The PCB favors a parliamentary to a presidential system, and is an uneasy ally of the Belarusan democratic opposition. (Russian agencies, July 14)

Russian Central Bank Chief Accuses Commercial Bank of Embezzling State Funds.