MOSCOW. Oct 9: President Boris Yeltsin dissolved thousands of city councils throughout Russia on Saturday in the most far-reaching action he has taken since, crushing his hard-line opponents in parlia-ment, reports AP.

But Yeltsin stopped short of disbanding the larger, more powerful regional councils, or Soviets, and the legislatures of Russia's 21 republics.

He did strip the regional councils, however, of the their right to pass budgets without the approval of regional administrators— whose Jobs are de-

pendent on Yeltsin.

Yeltsin said local administrators. such as mayors, would keep their Jobs and assume the responsibilities of the disbanded local councils in Russia's far-flung cities, villages and towns.

Local councils are often holdovers from the Soviet era and have resisted some of Yeltsin's economic and political reforms.

Saturday's action could have a great impact on Russians on a local level.

Many Russians outside Moscow have felt removed from the president's long power

struggle with parliament, but Saturdays decree touches officials in even the smallest Russian village.

Also Saturday. Yeltsin extended the state of emergency in the capital for another week and Moscow's new military commandant warned that any weekend demonstrations would be "decisively stopped."

Soldiers and police arrested 3.803 people overnight for curfew violations, the commandant's office said Saturday.

Police Col. Gen.Alexander Kulikov, whom Yeltsin appointed commandant of the capital.

said Friday he would crush any attempts to organize pickets or rallies this weekend.

"I warn that any actions that destabilize the situation in Moscow will be decisively stopped with the use of all available means and forces, and the organisers will be detained In accordance with the law." he said.

The state of emergency that Yeltsin imposed (October 3 had been scheduled to expire Sunday. But the president issued a decree extending it until October 18 to keep the city calm.

Police and soldiers with as-

sault rifles continued to patrol the capital, although the heavy T-72 tanks that pounded the parliament building have been withdrawn. There were no major incidents reported overnight.

The leaders ol the anti-Yeltsln resistance remained behind bars, although most erf their followers were released after questioning. Prosecutors are trying to determine whether parliamentary leaders Incited their armed supporters to storm the Moscow mayor's Office, main TV complex and the Kremlin on Sunday.

The confirmed death toll from the two days of violence was 187. with 437 wounded, and more bodies likely to be found, city officials said.

The ITAR-Tass news agency, citing sources in the prosecutor general's office whom It didn't identify, said hard-line leaders probably would be charged with treason. If convicted, the usual sentence Is death.

The report named Alexander Ruskoi. Yeltsin's rebellious vice president: former parliament speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov and five others. They all were in solitary confinement