Hungarian PM pleads for unity

(First Edition)

BUDAPEST (Reuter) - The Hungarian Prime Minister, Jozsef Antall, appealed for support from his divided party yesterday, complaining he could not lead the Hungarian Democratic Forum (HDF) to an election victory next year amid sniping from the rear.

'No one should be surprised if I find it more difficult to command an attack if I am being fired on by my own army,' he told the closing session of the HDF's annual convention. He easily won re-election to his post as party president, official voting results made public on Saturday showed. But his hardline nationalist rivals, led by the writer Istvan Csurka, also gained seats on the policy-making presidium that Mr Antall's centrist supporters dominate, suggesting no end to the HDF in-fighting.