A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

 Navy officials said . With an eight-foot draft , top speed of more than 35 knot

s and a narrow turning radius , the 170-foot-long Coastal Patrol Craft is much m

ore capable than full-size warships of interdicting the small craft running the 

Haiti embargo , Boxx and other officials said . The patrol craft will join nine 

other ships already in Haitian waters enforcing the tighter United Nations sanct

ions that took effect last Sunday . Also steaming toward the region , though not

 officially part of the embargo operation , is the USS Wasp , an amphibious assa

ult ship carrying about 650 Marines . The Wasp is headed for the U.S. . Naval ba

se at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , for `` routine refresher training , '' Navy and De

fense Department officials said . The ships on embargo patrol are authorized to 

enter Haitian territorial waters at will , stop and search all vessels , and fir

e if necessary to disable ships that refuse to halt , State Department and Penta

gon officials said . The `` rules of engagement '' that determine when the ships

 can fire are set entirely by the U.S. military , officials said , with no consu

ltative Bosnia-style role for the United Nations , even though it was the U.N. .

 Security Council that imposed the sanctions . The U.S. Navy has become quite fa

miliar with seaborne interdiction operations in the past few years , first durin

g the 1991 Persian Gulf War and later as part of a NATO team enforcing the inter

national embargo on Serbia in the Adriatic Sea . But those operations do not pro

vide an exact model for Haiti , officers said , because they involved generally 

larger vessels in confined bodies of water , with little coast-hugging traffic .

 `` This is more like trying to intercept drugs in the Caribbean , '' a senior N

avy officer said. `` If you are talking about smuggling vessels using shallow wa

ters , as long as you know where all the ports are you can set shallow water gat

e guards to position yourself , if you are willing to work inside of territorial

 waters and provided that the ships you use don't have draft limitations . '' Ev

en if all known ports are covered , he said , there is probably nothing to be do

ne about crude small boats sailed by individuals that can simply be beached anyw

here along the shoreline . Much of the gasoline and other goods still reaching H

aiti are going overland , across the border with the Dominican Republic . Domini

can Republic President Joaquin Balaguer assured President Clinton 's special rep

resentative on Haiti , William Gray , on Wednesday that his country `` would sea

l its border with Haiti in conformity '' with U.N. resolutions , State Departmen

t spokesman Michael McCurry said Thursday .

 BALASHIKHA , Russia They were once the toughest , deadliest , scariest troops t

o police the Soviet Empire . Named after Felix Dzerzhinsky , founder of the Bols

hevik secret police , the Dzerzhinsky Division liquidated czarist sympathizers ,

 worked out the formula for the Molotov cocktail and trained snipers to torment 

Adolf Hitler 's armies . In the 1980s , the KGB unit did the Kremlin 's bidding 

in such hot spots as Afghanistan , Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh . Last Octobe

r , when hard-liners seized the Russian Parliament building , Boris N . Yeltsin 

called in the Dzerzhinsky Division to storm the White House and save his preside

ncy . Thursday , the gates of the elite division 's base swung open to journalis

ts , and even foreign reporters were invited in for what commanders said was the

 first-ever tour of this military holy site about 15 miles east of Moscow . In a

 bizarre marriage of Russian military propaganda and Western-style public relati

ons , the once-terrifying special forces now seemed eager to show themselves to 

the media as a tough but politically correct unit of crime-fighters trained to b

attle terrorists , drug traffickers , hijackers and organized criminals . With c

onvincing displays of smoke bombs and machine-gun fire , young commandos demonst

rated their crime-busting prowess . First came a display of bulletproof vests , 

helmets , rifles , pistols , grenade-launchers , stun bombs and tear gas caniste

rs . Then , as the television cameras rolled , sharpshooters in camouflage burst

 into a firing range . They pumped bullets straight into their target , a wooden

 terrorist who appeared to be commandeering a car , holding a gun to the driver 

's head . The shooters left holes in the terrorist , but the hostage escaped uns

cathed . Beefy recruits showed how to intercept and liberate a `` hijacked '' bu

s by posing as road repair workers . In another mock raid , the commandos storme

d a hijacked aircraft , a bullet-ridden old Aeroflot jet parked at the training 

ground . ( Begin optional trim ) As if to demonstrate Russia 's need for a squad

 of `` untouchables '' to deal with its skyrocketing crime , while the mock hija

ckings were being staged outside Moscow , a very real hijacking of schoolchildre

n had begun in southern Russia . Four gunmen seized a bus carrying about 30 peop

le eight children , their parents , and their schoolteachers near Mineralniye Vo

dy , a resort city whose name means `` mineral waters . '' Authorities said Thur

sday that the hijackers had demanded $ 10 million , as well as 100 vials of morp

hine , assorted weaponry and a helicopter in which to flee . By late Thursday , 

the terrorists had released all the children and one adult in exchange for four 

sub-machine guns , a grenade launcher , a night-vision device and some flak jack

ets , the Itar-Tass news agency reported . About 13 adults were still being held

 . Two groups of elite Interior Ministry troops possibly from the former Dzerzhi

nsky Division were on their way to the site , Tass said . ( End optional trim ) 

As part of its transformation , the commando unit has dropped the name Dzerzhins

ky and is now simply known as the Special Forces Division . But the nickname has

 stuck , and despite financial hardship it remains one of the most prestigious p

ostings in the Russian military . The Interior Ministry brass who arranged the t

our said the base was opening now in anticipation of the 70th anniversary of its

 founding June 18 . Russian journalists suggested a more pragmatic motive : The 

federal budget is under discussion in Parliament , the military is so far gettin

g much less money than it asked for , and some good press could not hurt .

 LOS ANGELES Scholars searching for ways to broaden the lessons of the Holocaust

 told an audience at Los Angeles ' most prominent black church Thursday that Naz

is murdered and mutilated African American prisoners of war because of their rac

e , and sterilized children of mixed German and African blood . The presentation

 of previously unpublicized research was organized by the Martyrs Memorial and M

useum of the Holocaust , which is working with teachers and researchers to devel

op curriculum supplements for secondary school students . Researchers told liste

ners at First A.M.E. . Church that documents from Nazi war-crimes trials show th

at blacks both Americans and soldiers from Africa serving in the armies of colon

ial powers were `` singled out '' for mistreatment once they were captured by th

e Nazis . In one case , said Robert Kesting , an archivist at the U.S. Holocaust

 Memorial Museum in Washington , 11 captured African American soldiers were humi

liated by S.S. officers and forced to carry them on their backs before they were

 tortured , executed and mutilated . Other black soldiers were forced to dig the

ir own graves before they were executed . Although white soldiers were also mist

reated by Germans , Kesting said , blacks tended to be treated worse because of 

their race : Nazis considered people of African descent , as well as Jews , Gyps

ies , and handicapped people as `` race polluters . '' In a horrific example of 

Nazi eugenics the pseudo-science of genetically `` improving '' the human race h

undreds of half-black , half-German children , aged 6 to 12 , were sterilized un

der government dictates in the 1930s , Kesting said . The children , labeled the

 `` Rhineland bastards , '' were for the most part the offspring of German women

 who married African soldiers who were part of the French army occupying western

 Germany following World War I . Hundreds of the children later disappeared with

out a trace . The 14-year-old Holocaust museum , run by the Jewish Federation Co

uncil of Greater Los Angeles , sponsored Thursday 's lecture in response to the 

controversy that erupted after some black high school students in Oakland were k

icked out of a movie theater for laughing at scenes of the murder of Jews in `` 

Schindler 's List . '' Educators , struggling to get students interested in hist

ory that seems long ago and far away , said they believe the greater scope of ge

nocide will hit home to African American students if they are taught that people

 of African descent were also been persecuted by the Nazis . ( Optional add end 

) `` ( Students need to understand ) ` It could have been me , ' ' ' said Suzann

e Riveles , a political scientist who teaches at Howard University and participa

ted in Thursday 's lecture . Rev. Leonard Jackson , associate minister of First 

. A.M.E. , says interest in the Holocaust in the black community is `` little or

 nothing . '' `` It is easy to look at a story such as ` Schindler 's List ' and

 say , ` so what ? ' But if you realize .. . it was not just Jewish individuals 

, it was African Americans , black Africans .. . that 's what makes a difference

 . '' Museum director Alex Grobman , said the students in Oakland were unfairly 

criticized . They were simply unfamiliar with the history and couldn't understan

d that the events on screen really happened , he said . He said he later took se

veral of the students on a tour of the museum and found them `` very receptive .

 ''

 TORONTO An escalating war of words between the United States and its largest tr

ading partner has taken an unusual turn , with the U.S. ambassador lining up beh

ind Canada in its bitter dispute with American farmers over wheat subsidies . Am

bassador James J. Blanchard made front-page headlines Thursday after he publicly

 accused U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy of anti-Canada agitation in the mi

dst of the politically charged dispute over Canada 's wheat sales to the United 

States . American farmers and their allies on Capitol Hill contend Canada 's whe

at is priced below market rates because of government subsidies . Canada denies 

the charge , and its denials have been supported by binational trade-review pane

ls . In a wide-ranging interview with Canadian television , Blanchard said he di

sagreed with Espy 's recent representations to South American leaders that Canad

a was engaged in `` predatory pricing '' of its wheat in Brazil . `` I don't thi

nk ( Espy ) had the authority from the president '' to criticize Canadian tradin

g practices , Blanchard said . `` I don't fault ( Canadian Trade Minister ) Roy 

MacLaren for being frustrated , '' he added . The ambassador repeated his commen

ts in a telephone interview Thursday . Blanchard , a former Michigan governor , 

and Espy , a former Mississippi congressman , are Clinton appointees , and both 

are described as friends of the president . In a statement Thursday , the Agricu

lture Department said the White House `` was well aware of Secretary Espy 's tri

p to South America and Mexico , and the agenda to be discussed . '' The statemen

t also said : `` The secretary doesn't intend to get into a discussion rebutting

 , challenging or contradicting any statement by our ambassador to Canada . We f

eel he is doing a good job in a very difficult post . '' The latest hostilities 

began Tuesday , when the normally diplomatic MacLaren went to Washington and del

ivered the Canadian government 's most stinging denunciation to date of what it 

perceives as U.S. trade belligerence toward Canada . Disputes over wheat , lumbe

r , pork , beer and steel , `` if allowed to escalate , risk creating a trade an

d investment chill between our two countries , '' MacLaren said . U.S. allegatio

ns that Canada unfairly subsidizes its grain exports , the trade minister said ,

 have never been substantiated . Canadian officials have criticized Espy for rep

ortedly encouraging the governments of Argentina , Brazil and Mexico to launch t

rade actions against Canada in retaliation for alleged dumping of wheat in South

 America . `` It 's really difficult to speculate on the secretary 's reasoning 

, '' Canadian Agriculture Minister Ralph Goodale said on a television broadcast 

, `` partly because the comments were so bizarre and without any factual basis ,

 and now partly because Ambassador Blanchard has cast some doubt on the veracity

 of the comments . '' Blanchard , in the television interview , said U.S.-Canada

 trade disputes are `` minor in the scheme of things , '' but he blasted Canada 

's restrictions on imports of U.S. eggs , poultry and dairy products . `` If you

 were to look at the commodities that are at issue right now , I think you can m

ake a strong case that Canada is far more protectionist than the U.S. , '' he sa

id .

 ROME Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Thursday rejected recent complain

ts from other Western leaders about the presence of Mussolini 's political heirs

 in his government , saying they bore no relation to extreme-right forces elsewh

ere in Europe . In his first extended interview since taking office two weeks ag

o , Berlusconi insisted that the five cabinet ministers he appointed from the Na

tional Alliance , a ruling coalition partner that has its roots in the neo-fasci

st Italian Social Movement ( MSI ) , have nothing in common with the political i

deals of the fascist dictatorship . `` One is a former Christian Democrat , two 

are former members of the Liberal Party and two belonged to a branch of the MSI 

that renounced any ties to fascism , '' the 57 year-old media tycoon explained d

uring the hour-long conversation in his office at Chigi Palace . `` I have obtai

ned a solemn declaration from the National Alliance saying they are against fasc

ism and any form of despotism . Its leaders have said this publicly and in party

 congresses . `` Fascists do not exist in my government . They do not exist . Th

ere is nobody in my government who is against liberty and democracy . '' While t

he Clinton administration has backed the Berlusconi government and declared that

 it perceives no danger of a fascist revival in Italy , other Western allies , s

uch as France and Germany , have expressed alarm that a government role for Ital

y 's fascist descendants could encourage greater political legitimacy for neo-Na

zis and right-wing extremists in their own countries . On Wednesday , French Pre

sident Francois Mitterrand and Germany 's president-elect , Roman Herzog , calle

d for more determined resistance against rightist movements espousing intoleranc

e or xenophobia . They warned against further gains in credibility for the extre

me right after Italy became the first West European government in 50 years to em

brace a party identified with neo-fascism . But Berlusconi contended that Italy 

's fascist legacy could not be compared with the growth of right-wing extremism 

in France and Germany . `` The two phenomena are completely different . The forc

es of the extreme right faced by the Germans and the French are not at all like 

what is happening in Italy with the National Alliance . '' Berlusconi was quick 

to deny that there was any sympathy in his own past for Mussolini . `` I was the

n very small , but my father was persecuted by the fascists and forced to live a

broad , and my grandfather hid for two nights under a bridge while the fascists 

hunted him down . ''

 WASHINGTON Special counsel Robert B . Fiske Jr. notified House leaders Thursday

 he expects to complete the initial phase of his Whitewater investigation next m

onth , a timetable that could clear the way for Congress to hold the first heari

ngs this summer . Those hearings would be confined to questions about the death 

of White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster and the propriety of Washington mee

tings between White House aides and Treasury Department officials concerning the

 failed Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan in Arkansas . Fiske said his inquiry i

nto those areas would conclude , `` barring some development '' in the last two 

weeks of June and he would then be able to tell lawmakers if he objected to hear

ings on subjects he is investigating in Washington . House Speaker Thomas S. Fol

ey , D-Wash. , said the earliest the House could hold hearings on those two aspe

cts of the Whitewater investigation would be in late July or early August . A sp

okesman for Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell , D-Maine , said Mitchell 

anticipates that Senate hearings could begin `` sometime in July , '' probably a

bout a month after Fiske actually completes the first phase of his probe . Mitch

ell was briefed by Foley on the meeting with Fiske and planned to lay out his po

sition on timing in a letter to Minority Leader Robert J. Dole , R-Kan. , with w

hom he has been negotiating over timetable , structure and scope of hearings for

 about two months . Fiske asked congressional leaders in March to delay hearings

 that would delve into aspects of his broad investigation until after his staff 

has interviewed relevant witnesses . House and Senate leaders have indicated a w

illingness to comply with Fiske 's wishes under nearly identical resolutions bot

h bodies passed in March calling for bipartisan agreement to hold the hearings .

 In his meeting Thursday with Foley , House Majority Leader Richard A . Gephardt

 , D-Mo. , and House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel , R-Ill. , Fiske said he n

oted that the investigation into Arkansas-based matters , including the past inv

estments of President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the White

water Development Co. , was incomplete and will not be done anytime within the n

ext few months . Foley quoted Fiske as expressing `` worry or concern '' that la

wmakers would try to use hearings on Foster 's suicide and the Washington meetin

gs to explore other matters still under investigation by his office . A note of 

impatience with the scheduling of House hearings on any aspect of Fiske 's inves

tigation came from House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich , R-Ga. , who warned that h

earings might extend into the fall campaign season a uncomfortable prospect for 

Democrats unless committee investigators get the go-ahead to proceed with advanc

e research right away . `` If we 've done all the preparation for hearings , we 

can act fairly quickly once Fiske says it 's okay , '' Gingrich said . In the Ho

use and Senate , the structure of Whitewater hearings remains undecided and subj

ect to partisan dispute . Foley said , `` It might be better to have one committ

ee do whatever hearings '' and identified the Banking , Urban Affairs and Financ

e Committee as `` the most likely committee . '' Rep. James A . Leach , R-Iowa ,

 who has pressed for disclosure of government documents related to Madison and W

hitewater , is the panel 's top Republican . Gingrich named four committees that

 could claim jurisdiction over some part of the Whitewater investigation and sai

d `` the only alternative would be a select committee , '' an alternative that F

oley has consistently sought to discourage . In the Senate , Republicans served 

notice Thursday they will start amending bills to force hearings if Mitchell has

 not reached agreement with Dole on plans for the hearings by June 7 , when Cong

ress returns from its Memorial Day recess . Republican sources said GOP senators

 dropped earlier plans to start offering amendments before the recess when Dole 

assured them he was making progress in his talks with Mitchell and believed agre

ement was near . Mitchell has urged that hearings be conducted by the banking co

mmittee , with questions that fall under jurisdiction of other panels being hand

led by members who serve on those panels as well the banking committee . Democra

ts outnumber Republicans 11 to 8 on the banking committee .

 WASHINGTON Hillary Rodham Clinton was allowed to order 10 cattle futures contra

cts , normally a $ 12,000 investment , in her first commodity trade in 1978 alth

ough she only had $ 1,000 in her account at the time , according to trade record

s the White House released Thursday . The computerized records of her trades , w

hich the White House obtained from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange , explain for

 the first time how she was able to turn her initial investment into $ 6,300 ove

rnight . In about 10 months of trading , she made nearly $ 100,000 , relying hea

vily on advice from her friend James B . Blair , an experienced futures trader .

 The new records also raise the possibility that some of her profits as much as 

$ 40,000 came from trades actually ordered by someone else and allocated to her 

account , according to Leo Melamed , a former chairman of the Merc who reviewed 

the records for the White House . Merc records obtained by The Washington Post s

how that her broker , Robert L . `` Red '' Bone of Ray E. Friedman and Co. ( Ref

co ) was making large orders in 1979 and allocating them to customers ' accounts

 , a violation of Merc regulations . Melamed said the discrepancies in Clinton '

s records could have been caused by human error and even allocations would not n

ecessarily have benefited Clinton . `` I have no reason to change my original as

sessment . Mrs. Clinton violated no rules in the course of her transactions , ''

 he said . Lisa Caputo , Clinton 's spokeswoman , said the documents were releas

ed Thursday `` to give as complete a picture as possible '' of her trades . She 

said Clinton had never before seen them . Blair , who urged Clinton to enter the

 high-risk futures market and ordered most of her trades , said in a recent inte