FORMER POLITBURO MEMBER TO HEAD FEDERATION COUNCIL.

In a 147-19 vote yesterday, governor of Orel oblast Yegor Stroyev was elected chairman of the upper house of parliament. Stroyev, born in 1937, is a trained agronomist and a graduate of the Leningrad Higher Party School. A member of the CPSU from 1958 to 1991, he was Orel oblast first party secretary and then a CPSU Politburo member in 1990-91. He eventually resigned his Party membership. Stroyev has been a member of the Federation Council since December 1993. (2)

Russians Building Arms Delivery Route to Afghanistan?