Romania Rulers Appeal for Talks--but Arrest Critics

The government appealed for talks with the opposition Tuesday but also pressed its crackdown on dissent by arresting two prominent critics of President-elect Ion Iliescu.

Also Tuesday, the wife of an Iliescu opponent detained earlier on charges of involvement in last week’s anti-government violence took refuge at the Dutch ambassador’s residence.

There was no sign of organized protest at University Square, where demonstrators gathered Sunday and Monday in defiance of the violent suppression of dissent.

A communique carried by the state Rompres news agency said that Interior Minister Doru Viorel Ursu and the Romanian Information Service have invited student organizations and intellectuals to discuss “problems of common interest.”

Government opponents seek the ouster of Iliescu and other former Communists who hold top posts in the governing National Salvation Front. It took power during the December revolution that toppled and executed Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu and won parliamentary elections by a landslide last month.

Iliescu is to be inaugurated today. U.S. Embassy spokesman Virgil Bodeen said no American representative will attend because of U.S. displeasure over how his government has dealt with the unrest.

In Italy, nearly 120 Romanian World Cup soccer fans have asked for asylum because of violence in their homeland, and the number is set to rise to more than 160, police officials said Tuesday.

The Interior Ministry identified the opposition figures arrested Tuesday as Dumitru Dinca and Nica Leon, leader of the small National Democratic Party.

On Monday, authorities detained Marian Munteanu, a student leader severely beaten by miners.

Dutch Ambassador Coen F. Stork said he offered haven to Munteanu’s wife, Claudia, after “she said that she was very scared to move about . . . after what happened to her husband.”