I knew it wasn't the CPM.
Chris Doss The Russia Journal ------------------
Missing opposition leader is found alive By VASILE BOTNARU Associated Press Writer
CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) - An opposition leader who disappeared more than two months ago was found alive by police early Saturday.
Vlad Cubreacov, deputy chairman for the pro-Western Popular Christian Democratic Party, disappeared in March after being dropped off in front of his apartment.
A two-month search for him had failed to produce results, prompting speculation that he was dead. Supporters accused the governing communists of kidnapping him, a charge the communists denied.
But his wife, Natalia, said she received a call from him on Saturday, saying that he was safe in police custody.
"I had an emotional shock when I heard his voice," she said in a telephone interview. "I even forgot to ask him how he is."
Police officials speaking on condition of anonymity said Cubreacov was found walking on the side of a road by a patrol near the town of Ustia, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Chisinau. They said he was in good mental and physical condition.
The town is located on the bank of the Dniester river at the border with a separatist eastern region, called Trans-Dniester.
President Vladimir Voronin had blamed Cubreacov's disappearance on "groups who want to destabilize the country," pointing a finger at Trans-Dniester. The Russian-speaking region has been in conflict with Moldova since 1992, when a civil war in the region killed more than 1,500 people. Russia brokered a truce and left a military force in the region.
Some opposition leaders, however accused the Moldovan secret service of kidnapping Cubreacov, arguing that he was a vocal opponent of Voronin's pro-Russian government.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev said Cubreacov's reappearance proved the government was not involved in his disappearance.
Before his disappearance, Cubreacov, who is also a member of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, helped organize street protests in recent months against a government decree that would have forced Moldovan students to learn Russian.
The government scrapped the language requirement. But demonstrations against what are seen as moves to bring the country closer to Russia continued until last month, when the government agreed to democratic reforms that include air time on state television for opposition parties.
Most of Moldova, a small and poor country of 4.5 million sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, was part of Romania until 1940, and two-thirds of its people are of Romanian descent. It has a large Russian-speaking minority, mainly in Chisinau and Trans-Dniester.