GEORGIA HOLDS ITS TONGUE ON LEBED AND RODIONOV.

Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze’s chief spokesman Vahtang Abashidze told a news conference yesterday that the possible appointment of Col. General Igor Rodionov as Russian defense minister, proposed by Aleksandr Lebed, would "in no way affect Georgian-Russian relations." "It is not for Georgia to comment on Russian personnel appointments," the spokesman said. (Interfax, June 27) It was in Georgia that Rodionov and Lebed commanded the troops which perpetrated the 1989 carnage in Tbilisi’s cathedral square.

Lebed Slams West; Looks to Increase Authority.