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___Nation & World_ ._ Barak declares state of emergency as Lebanese guerillas hit Israel by Dina Kraft Associated Press Kiryat Shemona, Israel — Tens of thousands of Israelis living near the Lebanon border huddled in underground shelters or fled south out of rocket range Tuesday, fearing reprisals by Lebanese guerrillas for the heaviest Israeli bom bardment in eight months. In its second straight night of attacks, Israel’s air force struck Hezbollah offices in the coastal city of Tyre and the guer rilla stronghold of Iqlim al-Tuffah, 40 miles southeast of Beirut, Lebanese se curity officials said. At least two people ®vere wounded. The Israeli army confirmed the at tack late Tuesday and early Wednesday on Iqlim al-Tuffah, but identified the oth er target as a Hezbollah radar station. Prime Minister Ehud Barak or dered a military state of emergency along the northern border, a sign that Israel was preparing for extended fighting. Hezbol lah guerrillas on Tuesday killed an Israeli soldier—the sixth in two weeks — on ly hours after Israeli airstrikes cut elec tricity across parts of Lebanon. “In all that is connected with the pro tection of our people, our settlements and our soldiers, we will do everything required,” Barak told residents of Kiry at Shmona who had spent the night in Shelters. Israeli leaders blamed Syria for the latest flare-up and said peace talks won’t r----—-—-—"" . resume with Damascus until it ends the wave of Lebanese guerrilla attacks. Syria is the main power-broker in Lebanon, and Israel says it encourages the violence. In Waslimgton, Lebanon’s ambassador accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. “I expressed my government’s concern—grave concern —- for the Is raeli attacks on civilian targets and ex plained that these were deliberate attacks in contradiction of law and the April 1996 agreement,” Ambassador Farid Abboud said Tuesday. He was referring to a U.S.-brokered understanding that forbids attacks on or from civilian areas in southern Lebanon. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said, however, that Israeli airstrikes were a response to deadly attacks on Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah from Lebanese vil lages, in violation of the 19% agreement. “What the Israelis have done is to send a very clear signal about the fact they don’t want this to escalate,” Albright said. The airstrikes late Monday and ear ly Tuesday destroyed three power sta tions at Jamhour near Beirut, in the north ern mountains east of the port city of Tripoli and in the eastern Bekaa Valley town of Baalbek, a Hezbollah guerrilla stronghold where a base for the group al so was targeted. The base remained sealed and damage couldn’t be assessed. Fifteen civilians were wounded in Baalbek and were treated at hospitals for various injuries from broken glass, debris and shrapnel. Parts of Lebanon were left without electricity, and severe rationing was imposed. The airstrikes were the harshest since a similar strafing by the outgoing hard line government, just before Barak took office in July. The escalation in attacks on Israeli troops staffing a buffer zone in Lebanon’s south coincided with the collapse in Syr ian-Israel peace in mid-January. Syria wants a prior commitment from Israel that it will withdraw from the dis puted Golan Heights before talks ensue; Israel refuses, and says the resumption of violence is a crude effort to get Israel to cave in. Barak was getting closer to playing his own card against Syria — a unilater al withdrawal from Lebanon that would leave Syria without its single most ef fective method of pressuring Israel and would raise uncomfortable questions about the presence of30,000 Syrian troops in Lebanon. “If we will not reach an agreement (with Syria) in the next two months, I believe — I know — that the Israel gov ernment will meet and decide if we will withdraw unilaterally,” Cabinet min ister Haim Ramon, a Barak confidant, told The Associated Press. While such talk could influence a Syr ia that is eager to end its international iso lation, it will have little influence on the Hezbollah, a militant group that negates the very existence of the Jewish state. Should a withdrawal occur — with or without peace talks — Hezbollah, seeking to expand its political influence, would claim credit as the force that drove the occupiers south. With such win-win prospects, the guerrillas showed no sign of holding back. On Tuesday, their rockets hit an Is raeli military outpost at Dabshe, two miles north of the Israeli border, killing one soldier. A pro-Israeli militiaman was lat er wounded in a separate guerrilla attack on the outpost of Bir Kallab in south ern Lebanon. He died later. The prospect of the rockets reaching^ Israel prompted Barak’s announcement, through broadcast media, of a 48-hour state of emergency. Residents who stayed north were required to spend the night in shelters. Many headed south rather than face another night in the bowels of their apart ment buildings. Rachel Ben-Sultan, sur rounded by four bulging suitcases at the Kiryat Shmona bus station, said she was fed up with repeated emergencies after 43 years in the city. “If these attacks go on intensively, we will leave, we will go to a place that has peace and quiet,” she said before boarding a bus to stay with her daughter in a town several miles southwest. “We cannot go on like this.”__ Sudanese rebels claim government bombs school Associated Press Nairobi, Kenya—A Sudanese gov eminent plane bombed a primaiy schoo in rebel-controlled southern Sudan killing 13 students, Sudanese rebels sail Tuesday. Several teachers and students were injured when a Russian-made Antonov bomber dropped six bombs on and around the school in the town of Kaou da in the Nuba Mountains, 325 miles south of Khartoum, said Samson Kwa je, spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. 'If these attacks go on intensively, we will leave, we will go to a place that has peace and quiet. We cannot go on like this.’ Rachel Ben-Sulton resident Four escape hijacked plane by Caroline Byrne Associated Press Stansted, England —Four men • dropped from the cockpit window of a hijacked plane and ran to safety Tuesday night, fleeing the Afghan aircraft that has been parked for two days while negotia tors seek the release of more than 150 passengers. In the darkness shortly before mid night, the men used a rope help lower themselves about 20 feet to the tarmac of Stansted airport. Authorities said the four appeared to be hostages. They were being questioned after re ceiving medical attention, and appeared to have suffered no serious injuries, said Joe Edwards, an Essex Police assistant chief constable, “The^negotiations with people on board the plane continue,” said Edwards. “The mood on board remains calm.” Earlier, negotiators warned that .the talks, which gained the release of a ninth hostage during the day Tuesday, could go on for days. “The negotiations are going forward in a professional way, in a fairly calm way,” said John Broughton, an Essex Po lice assistant chief constable. “The prin cipal concern here is the safety of the passengers on board that aircraft.” The aims of the hijackers, believed to be Afghans, remained unclear. Spec ulation ranged from an elaborate play for political asylum to a bid to win the re lease of Ismail Khan, a former regional governor in Afghanistan detained since 1997 by the country’s ruling Taliban movement. Asked about a potential asylum bid, Broughton said: “In talking around the issues, there are a lot of things raised.” He would not elaborate, saying only that the hijackers, who controlled the plane at Stansted Airport 25 miles north of Lon don, had made no “formal demands.” Most of the negotiations involved what Broughton called housekeeping is sues, such as the delivery of water and food to the Ariana airlines plane. “We’ve done everything we can to keep the conditions on the aircraft hab itable,” said Edwards. “We’re talking all the time about what’s the condition of people and how are the children.” A London representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees arrived at Stansted as an observer, police said Tuesday evening. She would not be a ne gotiator, but would bring to the crisis the strength of the U.N.’s expertise on the situation in Afghanistan, Edwards said. The Boeing 727 had been headed to the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif from the Afghan capital, Kabul, when it was seized early Sunday. It then began a meandering journey across the former Soviet Union, stopping in Uzbekistan, Kazakstan and Russia. According to some of the 22 pas sengers released before the plane landed at Stansted early Monday, the hijackers are eight young men armed with pistols, grenades and daggers. Edwards said for mer hostages that authorities have talked to have said there were between six and 10 hijackers. They were believed to still be hold ing more than 150 hostages, including 21 children. All the passengers were believed to be Afghans. Eight passengers were released at Stansted on Monday, including two in fants who were treated for dehydration. The man released earlier Tuesday, an asth matic, had complained of feeling ill, Broughton said. The freed hostages have said they were treated well, authorities said. One told reporters the hijacking started some- • what quietly 20 minutes into the flight, with the armed men calmly telling pas sengers to put their hands on their heads. “The people we are talking to are re markably calm and that’s really impor tant,” Edwards said. “The atmosphere is one of control, people behaving ratio nally. That’s going to help an awful lot.” Everybody S<ores! REGISTER WITH MYBYTES.COM AND SCORE BIG! I -'-‘V, • _ ■ 1 GET A FREE SONIC ABYSS MULTIMEDIA CD and automatically be entered into our Score Big, Score Often Sweepstakes. YOU COULD WIN , AN INSTANT PRIZE! Plus, you'll have a chance at $100,000 TOWARDS YOUR COLLEGE EDUCATION. travel well SPfcNU LkSS Ik @SKECHERS! U HB m^bytes com™ ■ P B Your Student Travel Source /W\ UNIVERSAL V W/ * No Purchase Necessary. Void in Florida and where prohibited by law. 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