News In Brief

Former Argentine Leader held in missing-men probe

Former President Reynaldo Bignone, under arrest and in ''preventative prison'' since Tuesday, was summoned to give new testimony Wednesday in the disappearance of two communist Army recruits under his command at the military academy in 1976.

Between 6,000 and 30,000 people disappeared during military rule in Argentina.

Nearly 500 unidentified bodies of victims of the crackdown have been found in a cemetary near Buenos Aires, an official said Tuesday. Almost half of those recovered were shot in the head.

Meanwhile, 980 prisoners remained on hunger strike for a third day at Caseros Jail here to demand their early release, the prison governor said Wednesday. Their demands include the release of long-time prisoners who have completed half their sentences and conditional freedom for others.