Wave of Moldovan Violence Kills 4 Policemen, Civilian

Five people were killed Friday in a fresh wave of violence between Moldovan police and Slav separatists in the breakaway Dniester region of eastern Moldova, officials said.

Four Moldovan policemen and one civilian were killed when separatist Slavs opened fire on a Moldovan police car, Deputy Prime Minister Konstantin Oborok told a news conference.

Also Friday, President Mircea Snegur said he has blocked Commonwealth of Independent States television broadcasts into his republic because of the “continuing stream of misinformation” about fighting in the Dniester region.

The Russian Parliament, meanwhile, called for a peaceful settlement to the unrest in eastern Moldova, and peace talks were postponed without explanation until Monday.

The self-proclaimed Dniester Republic is populated mainly by ethnic Russians and Ukrainians who fear Moldova will unite with Romania, which controlled all of the republic except Dniester until World War II.

The Dniester River forms the boundary between Dniester and the rest of Moldova.