MOLDOVAN DEFENSE MINISTER DEFENDS ARMY’S POLITICAL NEUTRALITY.

Moldovan defense minister Lt. General Pavel Creanga yesterday issued a statement rejecting "invented" accusations of corruption and sedition, publicly leveled against him by president Mircea Snegur at a parliamentary session and in a presidential request to the Prosecutor General for "urgent measures" against Creanga. Creanga pledged to resist "attempts to split the military along political lines" and to defend "the army’s political noninvolvement." (Flux, Basapress, July 1) Last week nineteen pro-Snegur generals and colonels issued a statement demanding Creanga’s dismissal. The government and parliament support Creanga against Snegur’s effort to establish personal control of the army in the runup to the presidential election.

Belarus President to Curb Official Travel Abroad.