Soviet tractor exec given U.S. asylum

MILWAUKEE (UPI) A top official of a Soviet tractor companyoperating in Milwaukee has been granted permanent asylum in theUnited States, the State Department said yesterday.

Georgiy Gindra, a Soviet citizen employed as deputy generaldirector of Belarus Machinery, reportedly made the asylum requestfrom a hospital in Menomonee Falls, where he was taken Sunday withan undisclosed ailment.

The State Department provided no background on Gindra, believedto be in his 40s, issuing only a terse one-line statement that saidthe Soviet "has asked for and been granted permission to remain inthe United States."