OSCE SUSPENDS KARABAKH MONITORING.

The OSCE’s Chairman-in-Office, Danish foreign minister Niels Helvig Petersen, has announced the suspension of OSCE monitoring of the Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire until the sides provide credible guarantees of the monitors’ safety. The announcement did not blame either side. On April 15 the Chairman’s personal representative to the conflict zone, Polish diplomat Andrzej Kasprzyk, was fired upon during a monitoring trip. There were no casualties and Kasprzyk was cited as blaming the shooting on undisciplined Armenian soldiers. (Western agencies, April 25)

Duma Puts Off Ratification of Chemical Weapons Ban.