WORLD IN BRIEF : CZECHOSLOVAKIA : Havel Resigns as Head of Divided Land
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From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Vaclav Havel, the playwright who led the “Velvet Revolution” against communism, stepped down as president after failing to halt Czechoslovakia’s disintegration. The resignation left the country without a president as its Czech and Slovak regions moved toward a formal dissolution of the 74-year-old nation. Unlike in Yugoslavia and parts of the former Soviet Union, a peaceful split appears certain. Havel was an increasingly lonely voice against ending the union of Czechs and Slovaks.
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