Eviction of Envoys Is Put on Hold

President Alexander G. Lukashenko has put off a move to evict foreign diplomats from a housing complex where the pugnacious president also lives. It was not clear if the halt on evictions is permanent. Lukashenko, whose authoritarian rule has stirred controversy in the once-quiet ex-Soviet republic, earlier ordered 22 diplomatic families to move out of the gated, wooded complex, citing the need to make repairs. The Lithuanian ambassador to Belarus said Minsk had proposed three alternative places to live--one lacked comforts, another was 25 miles from the capital, and the third was a construction site. Last week, the U.S. ambassador was shut out of his residence when workers, under government orders, welded the gate closed. Most Western countries have said they will recall their ambassadors if the eviction order is carried out.