MOSCOW INDIGNANT OVER FRESH INCIDENT AT RED ARMY MEMORIAL IN LATVIA.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Valery Nesterushkin “could hardly find the words to express indignation and wrath” yesterday over the desecration of a Soviet military memorial in the Latvian town of Dobele. The Foreign Ministry summoned the Latvian ambassador to demand that such “terrorist” acts be “resolutely cut short.” (Itar-Tass, BNS, May 5) The May 4 explosion of a homemade device follows two similar incidents last month in Liepaja, where a Soviet and a Latvian military memorials were damaged, and explosions at the Riga synagogue and in the vicinity of the Russian embassy also in April. No perpetrators have yet been found.

Latvian authorities predicted in April that more incidents may follow, possibly orchestrated by elements interested in inflaming Russian-Latvian relations. Latvian criminal police chief Alois Blonskis, a respected anti-crime crusader, commented yesterday that police have tightened control at important sites including Red Army memorials, but “unfortunately can not post policemen near every monument.”

BELARUS WITHHOLDS RATIFICATION OF BORDER TREATY WITH UKRAINE.