WORLD IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Salvadoran Leader Asks Congress Aid

Visiting Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani, in a last-ditch bid for congressional support for U.S. military assistance, told key lawmakers that he would agree to a cut in military aid as long as it was linked to a cease-fire agreement with anti-government rebels. The House has passed a bill that would withhold half of the $85 million in military aid that the Bush Administration has proposed for 1991 even in the absence of a cease-fire. The withheld portion could be awarded only if the rebels declined to engage in good-faith peace negotiations or launched a major offensive.