Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

_ Nation & World Afghan airlines hij ack ends by Gleen McKenzie Associated Press Stansted, England—About half the hostages freed from a hijacked Afghan airliner requested asylum in Britain, but their 74 applications ran into immediate skepticism Thursday from officials who feared the four-day drama was all an elab orate bid to escape Afghanistan. Police arrested 21 people as the stand off ended peacefully before sunrise Thurs day. At 3:50 a.m., about 85 captives — mostly women and 21 children — sud denly streamed down the aircraft’s rear stairs, illuminated by bright lights, their flowing garments fluttering in the wind. The rest, including the hijackers, filed down the stairs two hours later. Officials said the hijackers never asked for asylum, but many otheis on the flight did. Home Secretary Jack Straw told the House of Commons that Britain would try to deport them, subject to legal re quirements. “Clearly, you cannot have a situation where a signal can be sent to anybody - A that the way to get asylum is through hi jacking a plane,” he said. The hijackers took over the Ariana airline flight early Sunday on what should have been less than an hour’s flight from the Afghan capital of Kabul to the north ern town of Mazar-e-Sharif. The plane made stops in Uzbekistan, Kazakstan and Russia, releasing 22 pas sengers. Ten more people were let go and four crew members escaped after the plane landed early Monday at Stansted airport, 25 miles northeast of London. That left 151 aboard. Police gave no guarantees during the mostly calm and businesslike negotia tions, said David Stevens, chief consta ble of Essex County police. The hijack ers never gave a clear explanation of their aims, he said. “It became clear in the last hour of the negotiations that they were ex pressing concern about the political sit uation in Afghanistan,” he said. “For the first 75 hours, they didn’t talk about the political situation at all.” Police recovered four handguns, five knives, one set of brass knuckles, two det onators and two grenades, though they did not appear to have fuses, Stevens said He anticipated a long process of in terviewing all the people aboard the aircraft, mainly through translators, to build a case. The hard-line Taliban government in Afghanistan sent a fax to British author ities thanking them for ending the hi jacking safely. The Taliban’s civil avia tion minister, Akhtar Mohammed Manzoor, asked that the plane — one of only nine in the aging fleet—and its pas sengers be returned The hijackers “must be punished oth erwise it will be an example for others that they can hijack a plane and get asy lum if that is what they want,” Manzoor said. “It’s not right that they should en danger all the passengers to get asylum. ” Britain does not have diplomatic re lations with Taliban authorities, who prac tice a strict brand of Islam and control 90 percent of Afghanistan. Nick Hardwick, chief executive of the Refugee Council, urged the govern ment to be cautious about sending every one back Afghanistan, wracked by 20 years of war and home to one of the world’s laigest refugee populations. “The truth is this is a desperate act by desperate men, desperate to get their families to safety. It doesn’t excuse it at all, but it doesn’t mean we can re turn people to a very dangerous situation without very careful thought,” Hardwick said. Opposition politicians in Britain sug gested the hijackers had been attracted to the United Kingdom by a reputation for lenience. “Why the United Kingdom? How many European Convention on Human Rights signatories did that plane fly over on its journey from Moscow to the U.K.?” Conservative Party lawmaker Anne Widdecombe said Britain received 3,975 applications for asylum from Afghan citizens last year, out of a total of 71,160 from all coun tries, the Home Office said In 1998, there were 2,395 applications from Afghanistan, with 35 granted refugee status and 1,500 given permission to remain. Justice Department could move Elian by Michael Sniffen Associated Press Washington — The Justice Depart ment is reviewing whether alcohol-re lated driving violations or other actions by Elian Gonzalez’ relatives in Miami warrant moving the 6-year-old boy to a different, temporary custodian. “That matter is under review,” Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder said when asked Thursday about the violations. “VVfc will look at that, try to make some kind of factual determination and then decide what steps, if any, need to be taken.” In addition, the department is still considering a request last week from Elian’s father in Cuba, Juan Miguel Gon zalez, to have Elian’s temporary custody shifted from his great-uncle Lazaro Gon zalez to another great-uncle, Manolo Gonzalez. Both great-uncles live in Mi ami. Juan Miguel Gonzalez objected to the media access to Elian that Lazaro Gonzalez’s family has permitted and to the treatment of Elian by psychologists selected by Lazaro Gonzalez’s family. Meantime, the possibility of a meet ing between Attorney General Janet Reno and Lazaro Gonzalez’s family re-emeiged Thursday. Reno agreed to a meeting ear lier this week, only to have Lazaro Gon zalez’s family withdraw the request. But discussions have been renewed, a Justice official said Thursday. Later Thursday, two of Elian’s Mia mi cousins sought support on Capitol Hill for legislation that would help keep the boy in America. One of them, Marisle ysis Gonzalez, told a news conference that reports of alcohol-related violations by relatives should not have bearing on the custody case. “We’re doing what’s in Elian’s best interest. My family is a very close fam ily,” she said. a .i . ^ • _ r'lA_ rviiuiuci CUUS1I1, VjCUIguia viu, Jtuvi Elian's father had intended to flee Cuba himself, but was being coerced by the Castro government to stay and make cer tain statements. “He wanted to reunite with his son — but not in Cuba,” Cid said. She said she and other family members had spo ken to Elian’s father by phone both be fore and after the mother perished. The father’s response when learning that his boy was safe in Miami was “take care of him until I can go, meaning go to the United States,” Cid said. A group of Florida lawmakers in troduced legislation earlier this month to grant Elian American citizenship, which would take the decision about Elian’s fu ture away from INS and give it to a Flori da family court. Support for the bill has been waning. Reno has already met with Lazaro Gonzalez’s lawyer and a Catholic nun from Miami who oppose his return to Cuba, as well as with Elian’s two grand mothers from Cuba, who want him re turned. A Justice official, who requested anonymity, said the department has au thority, if necessary, to shift temporary custody to someone other than Lazaro Gonzalez. The boy was placed in his care after being found clinging to an inner tube Jn the Atlantic last Thanksgiving follow ing a boat wreck that killed his mother and 10 other people. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has ruled in favor of the fa ther’s request that the boy be returned to him in Cuba, but that decision was put on hold while the Miami relatives battle in federal court to keep him in this coun try. Holder said that INS acted appropri ately but “now that we have this new in formation, we’ll have to look at it, and see, like I said, what steps if any are ap propriate.” Florida state records show Lazaro Gonzalez, 49, was found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol at least twice from 1991 to 1997. Records also show Lazaro Gonzalez’s 62-year-old brother, Delfin Gonzalez, has been found guilty at least twice of driving under the influence. I-1—"~r -mar Government requiring - inspection ofMD-80 tails by Matthew Fordahl Associated Press Los Angeles—The government is requiring airlines to inspect the tails of MD-80 series jetliners and related planes for damage similar to what was dis covered in the wreckage of Alaska Flight 261. About 1,100 jets in the United States — all MD-80s. MD-90s, DC-9s and Boeing 717s—will be covered by an order that was being drafted late Thurs day by the Federal Aviation Adminis tration. The airlines will have two to three days to comply. Boeing had recommended Wednes day that all 2,000 of the planes world wide be inspected, and all major U.S. airlines had already begun an inspec tion process when the FAA decided to make it mandatory. Alaska Airlines grounded two planes Thursday after problems wen; found. Passengers should expect minor de lays, the FAA said. “It’s far more important that we get these aitplanes inspected,” said Tan McSweeny, the FAA’s associate ad ministrator for certification. “Wfe want it done right, and we want it done thor ough.” Alaska, which has 34 MD-80 se ries planes in its fleet, grounded two of the jetliners in Seattle and Portland, Ore., because metal shavings were found around the jackscrews—which drive the planes’ horizontal stabilizers and control the up-and-down direction of a plane. Chechen rebels ambush Russian military train BY LYOMA 1URPALOV Associated press Urus-Martan, Russia —In one of their biggest attacks sin& abandoning the Chechen capital, rebels ambushed a mil itary train in a Russian-controlled region of Chechnya, the Russian Defense Ministry said today. A ministry spokesman refused to give details, but Russian news agencies re ported that federal forces drove the mil itants back after hours of fierce fight ing. No casualty figures were reported for either side. The train, which was being used to repair railroad tracks north of the capi tal, Grozny, was crippled Tuesday near the town of Aigun when rebels detonat ed three remote-controlled mines under its locomotive and opened fire from four directions, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. The attack was reported today. A second train sent to back up the first also was damaged when the rebels launched rocket-propelled grenades at its engine. The attackers retreated after Russian special forces arrived, according to the Interfax news agency. The ambush demonstrated aeain that bands of well-armed rebels are still able to move around Chechnya despite the military’s claims to control most of the republic. Federal forces took control of Argun, located nine miles east of Grozny, in December, but rebels managed to re take parts of the town for a few days in early January before again abandoning it. The train ambush also signaled that the rebels would make good on their threats to wage a wide-ranging guerrilla war on Russian forces after an estimated 3,000 rebels abandoned Groznylast week. The military estimates that 7,000 guerillas remain in the south, where the mountainous terrain will pose a major obstacle to any Russian advance. Russian forces ha\ been trying to prevent rebels who fled Grozny from reaching safety in the south. Russian forces today forbid travel be tween settlements across western Chech nya, even for people with passes from military authorities. An overnight cur few also was in place in almost all fed erally controlled areas. Interfax reported heavy fighting to day in Katyr-Yurt, 18 miles southwest of Grozny, where the military believed a rebel field commander was holed up with militants. Federal forces also intensifietf their air attacks on suspected rebel positions in the south. Jets and attack helicopters flew 200 sorties over the last 24 hours, the military said. „In the eastern Chechnya city of Gu dermes, which has been under Russian control since mid-November, doctors have treated about 100 civilians wounded by bombing attacks from fed eral jets in recent weeks. Doctors said they desperately needed medicines and other supplies. ‘Many industries have been completely destroyed (in Chechnya).’ Vladimir Putin acting president of Russia Russian cargo jets ferried 218 soldiers out of the conflict zone today, Interfax reported Col. Gen. Valery Manilov, first deputy chief of the Russian general staff, told ORT television that two regiments would be withdrawn from Chechnya in the near future, but that 50,000 troops would stay in Chechnya to fight the rebels. Russia’s acting President Vladimir Putin said today that the government would spend up to $70 million on re building Chechnya. He said about $1.75 million had been spent so far. “Many industries have been com pletely destroyed” in Chechnya, Inter fax quoted Putin as saying. “Health care, education and above all the energy in dustry have actually been brought to naught.” The Russian Cabinet today allocated $7 million to restore infrastructure in Chechnya, including water, heat and elec tricity systems. It also earmarked up to $263,000 for the Emergency fiituations Ministry to organize the distribution of foreign humanitarian aid in Chechnya and surrounding regions. Monday's 6-8pm lor rankskow MEGA TANNING SALONS WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL TANNING BEDS State Of The Art Giant Mega Beds • High/Medium Pressure Beds Super 10 Minute Beds • Giant 20 And 30 Minute Beds Ruva Beds And Stand Up VHR Booths CHOSEN AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN SALONS IN THE COUNTRY! 275 Harbison, next to Columbiana Mall (803) 732-5949 NO APPOINTMENT OPEN 7 DAYS 25 GIANT BEDS “First Time Customers Only” Buy one session i GET A FREE BOTTLE OF LOTION j $14 Value F.xnirtv; 1-18-nn AN HISTORIC RESIDENCE Efficiency $435 One Bedroom $495 Two Bedroom $530 Rents include all utilities and cable TV. All rates quoted are month to month (Leases available, prices subject to change) Located across from the University of South Carolina Horseshoe and the State Capitol, Cornell Arms offers the premier location for downtown living (803) 799-1442 1230 PENDLETON STREET COLUMBIA, SC 29201 r=TEm Everything You Need For Your Valentine! Flowers, Candy, Cards, Cakes & Gifts 1 Dozen • Assorted Colors Premium I