The United States urged Moldova on Friday to take immediate steps to ensure a fair parliamentary election next month after opposition complaints that Communist authorities are trying to rig the vote. Authorities in the ex-Soviet state announced that nearly two dozen foreigners had been detained after being found to have been acting illegally as observers ahead of the March 6 poll. Russia, whose relations with Moldova have cooled in recent months, complained that some of its nationals had been deported from Moldova last week. Moscow keeps troops in a separatist region of eastern Moldova despite promises to pull them out. Communists took power in 2001 and remain popular, with about 60 percent in polls, more than enough for an easy victory next month. Parliament then chooses the president, a job now held by Communist Vladimir Voronin in one of Europe's poorest countries. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, in a statement issued by the U.S. embassy, said Washington praised Moldova for its record in staging elections but noted "disturbing" trends. --More 2018 Local Time 1718 GMT
