101.   Grachev, who began on Friday the first visit by a Russian defense minister to Israel, also toured the Israeli-Lebanese border.

102.   He gave no further details, but said he hoped to meet regularly in the future with the Russian defense minister.

103.   However, the Russian defense ministry denied the report, ITAR-TASS said.

104.   A hastily assembled delegation of Russian defense ministry officials and top naval officers flew to the site to investigate the incident.

105.   A senior Russian defense official recently called for a neutral zone in eastern Europe to stave off conflict.

106.   A spokesman for the Russian defense ministry said late Wednesday he had not been informed of the report.

107.   But a spokesman for the Russian defense ministry said he had not been informed of the report.

108.   Conservative groups have argued links with the West would weaken Russian defenses.

109.   The Russian defense ministry would neither confirm nor deny the reported release.

110.   The Russian defense minister was supposed to have visited the United States late last year, but put off the trip amid political turmoil in Moscow.