LEBED RESIGNATION NOT FINAL.

Russian defense minister Pavel Grachev told Interfax June 1 that he had promptly approved Lt.Gen. Aleksandr Lebed’s resignation. Terming his former protégé turned political rival “just an ordinary general,” Grachev said he was certain Lebed would launch a political career. Lebed may be having second thoughts. Returning to his 14th army headquarters in Moldova’s Transdniestr region, Lebed told Basapress June 1 that he had unsuccessfully sought an audience with Yeltsin in order to persuade the Russian president to overrule Grachev’s plans to downsize his command. Lebed insisted that he had returned “in order to command the 14th army” and that Yeltsin has not spoken the final word on the matter.

Russian Foreign Ministry Welcomes UN Report On Bosnia.