WORLD : Leaders Urge Honecker Ouster

BERLIN — East Germany’s regional Communist Party leaders have urged a sweeping reshuffle of the ruling Politburo and the ouster of hard-line leader Erich Honecker, a West German newspaper reported today.

The mass-circulation Bild newspaper, quoting what it called “well-informed” sources in East Berlin, said 13 of the 15 regional Communist Party chiefs are demanding dramatic changes in leadership as well as an easing of the nation’s hard-line policies.

Bild said the demand for Honecker’s ouster and the reshuffling of the Polituro comes “because they (the regional Communist chiefs) fear that strikes and unrest will break out all across the nation.”

According to Bild, the regional chiefs are demanding that the government enter into talks with opposition groups, loosen travel restrictions to the West and hold free elections with independent candidates.