The World - News from July 9, 1989

The Soviet Lithuanian Parliament passed a law that goes a step beyond national legislation in giving land back to farmers after decades of collectivization, the Lithuanian Communist Party daily Sovietskaya Litva reported. The law, which goes into effect Aug. 1, would--without charge--give farmers the land they now farm with the right to pass it on to heirs, the paper said. The law does not allow farmers to sell land, a step Moscow might view as a violation of the Communist ban on ownership of major private property.