MOLDAVIA ELECTS PRESIDENT AMID ETHNIC STRIFE

Mircea Snegur has been elected president of the self-proclaimed republic of Moldavia by more than 98 percent of voters in a single-party election marred by ethnic strife.Mr. Snegur's government, which proclaimed the southwestern republic's independence last August, has promised to overhaul the economy, strengthen worker discipline, and tackle ethnic conflicts. But scattered violence during the weekend, including armed blockades by minority Russians at some polling stations, underscored the difficulties ahead. Moldavia is mostly made up of former Romanian lands incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940.