RUSSIA, IRAN SPONSOR REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON AFGHAN SETTLEMENT.

An international conference on settling the Afghanistan conflict opened yesterday in Tehran. Russia, four Central Asian countries, China, and India are attending. The U.S., Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia have declined to participate. Apparently, no Afghan authority or group will attend. Russia and Iran, both of which oppose the Taliban and support deposed Afghan leaders Burhanuddin Rabbani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, have promoted this conference. (Western and Russian agencies, October 29)

Mission of the IMF in Ukraine.