The World - News from Dec. 23, 1988

The Soviet Union plans to recycle engines from the 10,000 army tanks being withdrawn from Europe for use in the lagging domestic economy, the official news agency Tass reported. Fuel tanker trucks and cargo trailers attached to the six tank divisions being disbanded also will be transferred to civilian use, Tass said, quoting Maj. Gen. Yuri Lebedev of the armed forces general staff. President Mikhail S. Gorbachev told the United Nations on Dec. 7 that the Soviet armed forces would be cut by 500,000 soldiers in the next two years, including six tank divisions.