The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 08, 1999, Page 3, Image 3
Fumy' October 8,1999 IdlE tSaiUCCOClj Rase 3
Iraq seeks discourse
with American leaders
by John Halaby
Associated Press
A/vfiAAN, Jordan — Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein has sent a message to President
Clinton, promising major political re
forms in Iraq and offering to stop
threatening Israel, a leading Arabic news
paper reported Thursday.
The London-based Al-Hayat news
paper said the message includes an offer
for unconditional talks with the United
States and assurances that Iraq will play
an effective role in the Middle East peace
process.
The message is being carried by Jor
dan’s King Abdullah II, who is scheduled
to meet with Clinton on Tuesday in Wash
ington.
Before leaving for London on Wednes
day en route to Washington, Abdullah
confirmed to Jordanian reporters that he
was carrying a message from Saddam to
Clinton. He refused to give details.
“I can’t comment on that, but I have
a message to pass on,’’Abdullah was quot
ed as saying by Jordanian newspapers
Thursday.
Administration officials, however,
doubted that Iraq would make a serious
overture to the United States through Ab
dullah.
“The Iraqis regularly seek to have dis
cussions with American officials, and
we’re not interested in those discussions,”
State Department spokesman James P.
Rubin said Wednesday.
If the Al-Hayat report is correct, it
would mark a major turnaround in Iraq’s
hard-line policies and show a willingness
to mend fences with its main enemies,
the United States and Israel.
In return, Iraq wants Washington to
drop its threats to put Saddam and his se
nior aides on trial as war criminals, Al
Hayat said.
Iraq’s change of heart could also be
linked to its demand that the United States
drop its opposition to the lifting of U.N.
economic sanctions, imposed in 1990 af
ter Saddam’s forces invaded Kuwait.
Al-Hayat said the Iraqi leadership ex
pressed readiness to start political reforms
that would include a new constitution,
adopting a multiparty system and respect
for human rights.
Iraq has been ruled by the Baath Par
ty for the last 31 years, 20 of them under
Saddam, whose tight control on power
and intolerance for dissent have driven
most opponents out of the country.
In his message, Saddam also proposed
providing guarantees that it will “play an
effective role in the [Middle East] peace
process and stop its threats against the
Jewish state and neighboring countries.”
Jordanian newspapers quoted Ab
dullah as saying the message was hand
ed over by Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister
Tariq Aziz to Jordanian Prime Minister
Abdur Ra’uf S. Rawabdeh last week.
Abdullah said he intends only to de
liver the message and not speak on be
half of Iraq. Asked if he will defend Iraq
before U.S. officials, he said: “Ab
solutely not.”
Jordanian and Iraqi officials refused
to elaborate on the contents of the mes
sage.
UPS ends handgun
delivery by ground
by Shelley Hill
Associated Press
Atlanta—United Parcel Service said
Thursday it will stop delivering hand
guns through its regular ground service
because die weapons are too easily stolen
from the company’s trucks.
Atlanta-based UPS, which handles
the vast majority of firearms shipments,
will allow customers to ship handguns
only through its more expensive air ser
vice beginning Monday.
“This is the best way for us to add
security to the movement of these
weapons,” UPS spokesman Norman
Black said
Black estimated hundreds of
handguns are stolen from the carrier
each year.
UPS’s Next Day Air service is a sep
arate, more controlled system in which
packages are handled by fewer people
and stay in the system for only one night,
Black said
The company will continue to ship
rifles and shotguns by ground because
they are more difficult to steal.
Industry leaders say UPS handles
about 75 percent of guns sent from man
ufacturers to distributors and nearly all
firearms shipped from distributors to
dealers.
UPS's biggest competitor. Federal
Express, has restricted guns to its Pri
ority Overnight service for 20 years.
Airborne Express, the No. 3 express
carrier, also restricts guns to air ship
ments.
The Postal Service will not ship
handguns unless they are being sent to
a law enforcement agency or among
gun dealers and makers. •
Jim Chambers, executive director
of the Sporting Arms and Ammuni
tion Manufacturers’institute, said ship
ping handguns via air could cost three
to four times more than ground ship
ment, although Black said that estimate
Is “completely out of the ballpark.”
Even so, Chambers said the gun in
dustry will look at alternatives to air
shipments..
“We’re not interested in a haphaz
ard way to sliip firearms though the sys
tem,” he added. “We don’t want to see
firearms get into the wrong hands
anymore than anyone else does.”
World Briefs
■ Bomb expodes on
bus in Pakistan, kills
one
Karachi, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful
bomb ripped through a city bus in south
ern Pakistan today, killing one person and
injuring 18 others, some of them seri
ously, hospital officials said.
Hospital officials said one person died
in the bombing that occurred during
evening rush hour in Karachi, the coun
try’s largest city with 14 million peo
ple. Police had said earlier that five
people were killed.
No one took immediate responsibil
ity for the bombing.
0T.
■ BP warns against
using cell phones
at gas pumps
Cleveland (AP) — BP Amoco plans to .
warn customers against using cellular tele
phones at its gasoline pumps in the Unit
ed States amid concern that electronic
impulses could start a fire.
The risk is slight, but London-based
BP Amoco doesn’t want to take any
chances, said Linda McCray, a company
spokeswoman in Cleveland. The com
pany will post warning signs at Amoco
and BP stations by the end of the year.
She said customers still will be al
lowed to use cell phones away from gas
pumps.
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