referendum, 77% of voters in the Soviet Union vote in favor of keeping the 15 Soviet republics together; six Union Republics effectively boycott the referendum. In the Finnish parliamentary election, the Centre Party wins 55 of 200 seats in the parliament, ending 25 years of dominance by the Social Democratic Party of Finland. March 23 – The Sierra Leone Civil War begins when the Revolutionary United Front attempts a coup against the Sierra Leone government. March 24 – The Beninese presidential election, Benin's first presidential election since 1970, is won by Nicéphore Soglo. March 26 In Mali, military officers led by Amadou Toumani Touré arrest President Moussa Traoré and suspend the constitution. Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing Mercosur. March 31 Albania holds its first multi-party elections since 1923. The socialist ruling Party of Labour of Albania won a landslide victory with 169 of the 250 seats in the parliament. Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Georgia votes for independence from the Soviet Union while on April 9, the Supreme Council declares the independent Republic of Georgia. April April 2 – Government-imposed prices increase double or triple the cost of consumer goods in the Soviet Union. April 3 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The UN Security Council passes Resolution 687, which calls for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons and a complete ban of ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 km. It also calls for an end to Iraq's support for international terrorism; it is accepted by Iraq three days later. April 4 U.S. Senator John Heinz and six other people are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania. Forty people are taken hostage in Sacramento, California; six gunmen and hostages are killed. April 5 Former U.S. Senator John Tower and 22 others are killed in an airplane crash in Brunswick, Georgia. Space Shuttle Atlantis leaves an observatory in Earths orbit to study gamma rays before returning on April 11. It is followed by Space Shuttle Discovery, which studies instruments related to the Strategic Defense Initiative from April 29 to May 6. Space Shuttle Columbia carries the Spacelab into orbit on June 5. April 9 – The first Soviet troops leave Poland. April 10 A South Atlantic tropical cyclone develops in the Southern Hemisphere off the coast of Angola, the first of its kind to