SPECIAL DUMA SESSION CALLED.

Pursuant to an August 9 decisionby the Duma’s council, an extraordinary session of the full Dumahas been called for August 12 to debate the draft electoral law,Interfax reported this morning. The session was proposed by theCommunist and Yabloko groups, which hope, as do many other parliamentaryfactions across the opposition spectrum, to override the FederationCouncil’s veto of the draft electoral law. The draft’s most controversialpositions define the boundaries of the 225 electoral districtsin ways which would reduce opportunities for government manipulationof the electoral process.

Paratroops Withdrawn From Moscow