Latest Developments

GEORGIAN STANDOFF: Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia told thousands of people outside government headquarters in Tbilisi that he will stand fast against his opponents, but he repeated his offer to take part in negotiations. Former Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua, now opposing Gamsakhurdia, and a handful of government ministers met in Tbilisi’s broadcasting center, held by opposition forces, and decided to try to talk to the president. Three policemen and two dissidents were killed in a clash in Tbilisi.

ARMENIAN QUITS: Prime Minister Vazguen Manukian stepped down and also decided to withdraw from the presidential election on Oct. 16. Manukian reportedly said the election campaign would cause instability in Armenia, which on Monday declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

TADZHIK IMPASSE: Thousands of students, professors, Muslim clergy and war veterans demonstrated outside the Tadzhikistan Parliament in Dushanbe against the hard-line Communist regime that ousted the moderate president Monday. The pro-democracy demonstrators have built a city of 64 tents a few dozen feet away from the building, which dozens of weary police militia have been guarding for three days.

CAPITALISM ARRIVES: A private Moscow bank, Kredobank, began issuing credit cards. Owners of the new Kredobank cards, issued in conjunction with Visa International, will be able to buy goods at 9 million outlets worldwide, including more than 1,000 in the Soviet Union. A deposit of $10,000 is required to obtain a card. Previously, only members of the Communist ruling elite could use credit cards.