News Currents

EUROPECroatia moved toward a general mobilization Aug. 27 after the most intense battles so far by Serb guerrillas and the federal army against Croatian forces in the Yugoslav republic's undeclared civil war. Especially heavy fighting raged in the Osijek area, 100 miles northwest of Belgrade, Aug. 25 and 26. More than 400 people have been killed since Croatia declared independence, along with the republic of Slovenia, June 25. The Croatian government met for a crisis session the night of Aug. 26 after dozens w ere killed in joint assaults by Serbian fighters and federal troops, backed by planes and heavy armor, against villages and towns held by Croatian forces. Croatian radio said new clashes erupted the night of Aug. 27 and early Aug. 28 across the republic. The Croatian government scheduled another crisis meeting for Aug. 28, while the eight-member Yugoslav presidency postponed a crisis meeting scheduled for Aug. 27, saying some presidency members had other commitments. No new date was set.... The Soviet Union may soon stop harboring those who are charged with crimes against the West. Former East German Communist leader Erich Honecker, wanted on manslaughter charges in Germany, could be extradited from the Soviet Union within a few days, while there is discussion that British double agent George Blake, already sentenced in Britain for spying, could be sent back to Britain. The new KGB deputy chief, Sergei Stepashin, was quoted in a British paper as saying Blake's case would be reviewed.... French Prime Minister Edith Cresson called Aug. 27 for a special European Community summit with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian leader Boris Yeltsin in attendance.... The Russian Republic is seeking a veto over the Soviet Union's use of nuclear weapons, Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoi said Aug. 26. AFRICA AND ASIA Togo's national conference, defying an order from President Gnassingbe Eyadema to suspend its work, Aug. 27 elected human rights leader and lawyer Kokou Koffigoh to head a transitional government and strip Eyadema of most of his powers. The conference consists of some 1,000 delegates from civic, religious, and political groups. But the military has made it clear it did not consider the conference's decisions binding (story, page 6).... Leaders from 10 African countries, meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, said Aug. 26 that they looked forward to a post-apartheid South Africa joining a loose alliance originally set up to counter the economic dominance of the white-ruled state. At the 11th annual summit of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference, chairman Quett Masire, president of Botswana, said the poor region needed South African participation to boost economic growth.... A reformed Soviet economy will become an unwelcome rival in Asia for scarce aid funds and a tough competitor for developing n ations in Western markets, Allan Ortiz, deputy chief of the National Security Council in the Philippines said Aug. 27.