CONGO BANS RUSSIAN PLANES AND PILOTS.

Congo’s private airlines were told on July 13 that they could no longer use old Soviet-made aircraft nor hire Russian pilots. Transport Minister Henri Mova complained that the Russians spoke neither French nor English. "We don’t know their qualifications," he said, "and the condition of their aircraft." In January, 1996, a Russian cargo plane leased to a Zairian company plowed into a crowded market after take-off in Kinshasa, killing more than 300 people. (Reuter, July 13)

Belarusan Communists Purge Lukashenka’s Supporters.