71.   Russian President Boris Yeltsin on Thursday called for a major international conference to discuss peace prospects in the former Yugoslavia.

72.   Syria has slammed the Israeli action, saying it damaged Middle East peace prospects.

73.   That delegation is to meet this week to discuss peace prospects with Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian officials.

74.   The head of the Islamic delegation, Akbar Turadzhonzade, also said he was more optimistic about peace prospects.

75.   The Jewish, Muslim and Christian clerics are forming a permanent committee which will seek to boost peace prospects by bolstering intercommunal ties and lobbying their political leaders.

76.   The meeting had been arranged on the fringes of a UNESCO-organized conference on peace prospects in the Mediterranean region.