LEFT TO DISCUSS SINGLE CANDIDATE.

Communist organizations will meet in Moscow February 4 to try to agree on a presidential candidate. (11) The meeting is being organized by Viktor Anpilov, leader of Working Russia, a party that did unexpectedly well in last December’s elections. Anpilov opposes Gennady Zyuganov’s attempt to project the image of "a gentler, kinder Communist party," but says it is essential for the left to unite behind a single candidate. The February 4 talks will be also attended by the extreme left Russian Communist Workers’ Party, whose leader Viktor Tyulkin fiercely opposes Zyuganov’s candidacy, accusing him of "privatizing" the role of leader of the opposition. Grigory Yavlinsky warned Zyuganov last weekend that the more successfully he portrays himself as an urbane, reasonable, and reform-oriented Communist, the more likely he is to be stabbed in the back by his comrades following a Communist victory.

Iraq Tempts Moscow with Oil Contracts.