Palestinian Fatah to hold congress in Bethlehem Tue.

BEIRUT, August 4 (Itar-Tass) - The 6th cogress of the Palestinian
Fatah movemen, founded by the late Yasser Arafat, is to open in Bethlehem
on Tuesday.
The party forum will take place for the first time in the land of
Palestine and will be a historic one, consedering the turning-point in the
national liberation struggle of the Palestinians.
Over 2,000 delegates representing Fatah organisations both inside the
autonomy and outside it, in the diaspora, will attend the congress.
The make-up of the leadership of the movement is expected to be
renovated considerably, resultant of an inlfux of supporters of the
moderate policy being pursued by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the
Palestinian National Authority, who, most likely, will be again nominated
for the post of party leader.
Nevertheless, no amendments concerning recognition of the Jewish State
will be introduced to programmatic documents, considering the deadlock in
which the peace process has found itself.
The previous congress of the Fatah was held in Tunis in 1989, i.e.
before the establishment of the Palestinian autonomy. At that time main
emphasis was laid on the earliest attaiment of the national goal -- the
creation of an independent state with capital in Jerusalem.
On the first day of the congress proceedings, Mahmoud Abbas is to
deliver a summary report. Candidacies for membership of the Central
Committee (21 people) and the Revolutionary Council (80 people) will be
nominated on Wednesday after deliberations. Elections are to be held on
Thursday.
The holding of the forum has been clouded by the Fatahg's new
confrontation with the Hamas movement. The Islamists did not allow about
400 Fatah activists to leave the Gaza Strip, demanding in exchange that
the PNA head immediately release from prisons all the Hamas supporters
arrested in the West Bank.

.Moldova CEC to present final protocol on Jul 29 parl polls.

CHISINAU, August 4 (Itar-Tass) - The Central Electoral Commmission
(CEC) of Moldova is to present Tuesday a final protocol on the results of
the July 29 early parliamentary elections.
A CEC official has told Itar-Tass that the protocol will set out the
number of mandates gained by each political party, the distribution of
mandates among members, and endorsement of the list of reserve candidates
for the position of parliament members. Parties that failed to surmount
the five percent electoral barrier will be excluded from the mandate
distribution procedure.
The CEC protocol will then be referred to the Constitutional Court of
Moldova (CCM) that will have ten days to decide on recognising the 18th
parliament elections valid.
According to data made public by the CEC last week, the counting of
all votes revealed that five parties passed into parliament.
These are the Communist Party with 44.7 percent of the vote, the
Liberal Democratic Party -- 12.5 percent, and Our Moldova Alliance -- 7.3
percent.
The results indicate that the Communist Party has lost majority in
parliament upon gaining 48 seats out of 101. The opposition that has 53
seats can form the parliament leadership. However, 61votes are essential
to elect a president. Problems have arisen in the formation of a Cabinet,
for, according to the Constitution, the president suggests a candidacy
for premiership.
The commencement of the work of the newly elected parliament is slated
for the end of August.

.Bear mauls woman on Kamchatka Peninsula.

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, August 4 (Itar-Tass) - A bear has mauled a
woman in Palana Township in the Kamchtka Peninsula's north. The body of
the victim has not yet been identified. Police have launched a check-up,
an official at the local department of internal affairs told journalsits
on Tuesday.
This information was confirmed, in response to an Itar-Tass enquiry,
by a source at the Russian Ministry for Emergencies (RME) center for the
Kamchatka Territory .
According to the source, the body of the mauled woman was found at the
township's stadium. A bear attacked the woman supposedly last night. So
far, there have been no applications to agencies for internal affairs
about any relatives or acquaintances missing. The circumstances of the
incident are being verified.
This is the first incident involving an attack on a human being by the
beast on the Peninsula this summer. At the same time earlier game managers
had to shoot three bears that posed menace to people near various
populated localities.
Specialists point out that beasts approach human dwellings most often
owing to garbage dumps that attract them as an opporutnity to get food in
an easy way.
The Kamchatka brown bear is one of major subspecies in the world. Its
weight may be up to 700 kg, and they are three metres tall. There are more
than 16,000 bears on the Peninsula. Instances of bears approaching
inhabited areas are recorded every year. Bears were also found roaming
even inside the boundaries of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
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