Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Elian’s family lashes out at INS by Alex Veiga Associated Press Miami — With a government deadline fast ap proaching, Elian Gonzalez’s Miami relatives Tues day continued to resist demands that they promise in writing to surrender the boy if they lose their court fight to keep him in the country. Lawyers for the family and the U.S. government met in the morning without resolving the impasse, despite threats from immigration authorities to re move the 6-year-old Cuban boy. “They said, ‘If you don’t sign the paper, we re move Elian.’ They don’t tell us how,” family spokesman Armando Gutierrez said. Late Monday, the Immigration and Naturaliza tion Service warned that Elian’s temporary permis sion to stay in the United States would be revoked at 9 a.m. Thursday unless the relatives provide the written guarantee. Gutierrez said the “blanket statement” that the INS is demanding is “not the American way.” He said Elian’s great-uncle would meet with immigra tion officials today, but that he didn’t know if the uncle would sign the agreement. Gutierrez charged that INS officials “are fol lowing orders either from Clinton’s lawyers or Fi del, and they need to answer to the community and to the world.” The INS asked Elian’s great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez to meet with them today in Miami, at which time government officials said he would be given another opportunity to sign a pledge to give up Elian if he loses the court battle. If Gonzalez will not agree in writing to obey the court ruliiig, the INS intends to advise him on Thurs day morning how and when he is to relinquish custody of Elian, according to the government offi cials, who requested anonymity. They wouldn’t say exactly what timetable Gonzalez would be given on Thursday. INS spokes woman Karen Kraushaar read a statement saying the Justice Department hopes that Gonza lez will sign the agreement today. wnueimnas always had the authority to implement its deci sion, we have gone to great lengths to bring about a resolution that is carried out in a manner that creates as little disruption for Elian as possible,” Kraushaar said. “The simple assurances we have sought from Lazaro Gonzalez are that he will cooperate with an orderly transfer of Elian Gonzalez in the event of an adverse ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals and barring emergency injunctive relief from the Supreme Court,” she said. Elian, who is living with his great-uncle, is be ing kept home from school this week. The family spokesman said Elian won’t return to school out of fears that Cuba might somehow try to force him back to the island. Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the Cuban Amer ican National Foundation, a Cuban exile group, said he believes that the government will think care fully before taking any action. “We don’t think the government would force fully take the child,” Mas Santos said. “If they are Euan see wge e ‘They said, ‘If you don’t sign the paper, we remove Elian.’ They don’t tell us how.' Armando Gutierrez Elian’s U.S. family spokesman NAACP: Plan for glass flag cases has potential Associated Press Plans to put authentic Confederate flags and a Union regimental flag in glass cases on the Statehouse grounds have gained some interest from the National Association for the Advancement of Col ored People. The group is encouraging tourists and entertainers to avoid the state until the flag comes down from the Statehouse dome. The NAACP hasn’t endorsed the plan, which flag preservation experts have de scribed as risky and expensive for the au thentic flags. “We think that it’s a starting point,” said James Gallman, president of the South Carolina Conference of Branch es of the NAACP. “There are some questions that need to be answered. If we can get some of the questions answered, we would be will ing to sit down and take a look at it.” House Majority Leader Rick Quinn, R-Columbia, said that response highlights the problems with the NAACP’s role in the flag debate. Last fall, the NAACP chastised lawmakers and Gov. Jim Hodges for inaction on the Confederate flag. The tentativeness of the group’s support both ered Quinn. “They need to show some leadership,” Quinn said. “Those comments don’t bother us,” said Lonnie Randolph, president of the Columbia NAACP and leader of the nationwide boycott efforts. The NAACP has said it would lift eco nomic sanctions against the state if the flag, which has flown atop the Statehouse dome since 1962 and in its legislative chambers for decades, is moved to a mu seum or put in a glass case inside the State house. Sen. John Courson, a Columbia Re publican and flag supporter, and Sen. Dar rell Jackson, a Columbia Democrat and flag opponent, have been working to gether on the glass encasement plan. That plan puts a square Army of Northern Virginia battle flag in a glass case at the Confederate Soldier monu ment. The monument stands at the most visible side of the Statehouse, facing north to Columbia’s Main Street. The plan also puts the Confederacy’s First National flag, the striped flag with Flag SEE PAGE 60 ‘If we can get some of the questions answered, we would be willing to sit down and take a look at it.’ James Gallman S.C. NAACP President City council removes flag in Mississippi JACKSON, Miss. —The Mississippi state flag, which contains the Confed erate battle banner, will no longer be dis played in the City Council’s chambers. The council voted 6-0 on Tuesday, with one abstention, to permanently remove the flag. The flag disappeared from the meet ing room in February and hadn’t been re placed. Councilman Kenneth Stokes, who is black, acknowledged removing the flag, saying it’s racist symbol and offensive to blacks. A man opposed to removing the flag stormed out of the meeting. “After you go through the Stars and Bars, the next thing will be the Stars and Stripes,” H.O. ^^hlke^ said. Calls at the state level to change the flag have largely been ignored. Rep. Keith Montgomery said that while the City Council has the right to keep the flag out, the move is insulting to the state. “This is the flag of the state of Mis sissippi. It should be displayed with the honor and reverence it deserves,” the Re publican said. Gore says Republicans chasing tails on e-mail, IRS Questions by Sandra Sobieraj Associated Press Washington—Vice President A1 Gore said Tuesday the Republicans are chasing their tails pursuing questions about his missing e-mail and staff calls to the In ternal Revenue Service, but he offered little additional explanation about either in an interview. “I hope they spend a lot of time and a lot of energy on this,” Gore told The Associated Press with a confident grin. In a West Wing interview, the No. 2 man in one of the most investigated ad ministrations in U.S. history appeared as untroubled by the newest inquiries as he was vague about their details. Asked how much he used e-mail dur ing the 1996 re-election campaign to com municate about fund raising. Gore replied • simply, “Didn’t.” He was pressed to go on: “Just ‘did n’t’?” “Well, first of all, I don’t know,” he responded. “But whatever is there will be disclosed — fully and completely.” Reminded of his reputation as an In temet-sawy person who uses e-mail fre quently, he said: “Not about this. First of all, I just don’t know. I just don’t know. ... They’re reconstructing this.” Gore waved the matter off as a red herring inspired by the Republicans. But An Fleischer, a spokesman for Texas Gov. George W. Bush, had a different view. “The problem with this administra tion is that we’ve heard all about these red herrings before, but they always turn into additional ethical problems when the truth comes out,” Fleischer said. A Justice Department task force is investigating whether the White House engaged in obstruction by failing to sur render e-mails related to 1996 campaign fund-raising allegations, including Gore’s use of White House telephones and a Bud dhist temple to solicit campaign contri butions. This week, Rep. Dan Burton, the Re publican chairman of the House Gov ernment Reform Committee, asked At torney General Janet Reno to turn the matter over to a special outside counsel. John McCain echoed the call for an independent investigation when he spoke with Gore on Monday, an aide to the Re publican senator revealed on Tuesday. Gore had telephoned McCain, who pressed for campaign finance reform dur ing his suspended presidential campaign, to discuss a speech he was about to de liver on proposed new fund-raising re strictions. Bush also is making a campaign issue of a recent Joint Committee on Taxation finding that two of Gore’s White House aides had improperly attempted to get se cret IRS information for a labor union. On Monday, Bush again pressed Gore to name the union. “I don’t really know,” the vice pres ident said Tuesday. Communications Director Laura Quinn, who sat in on the interview, said aides had scoured “schedules and brief ing materials” from the two months sur rounding 1997 contacts but hadn’t come up with an answer. The two staffers who called the IRS on Jan. 28,1997, “have ho recollection of the calls at all themselves,” Quinn said. Gore, asked if he recalled directing aides to contact the IRS, said, “No. No.” Without his knowledge, Gore said, the White House counsel’s office had giv en his aides advice on making requests of the IRS. He blamed any appearance of impropriety on differences in “a kind of body of administrative practice” used by the IRS and the White House. Whatever his aides had been seeking, “it wasn’t a tax return,” Gore added. As for Republicans looking for wrong doing, “I hope they spend a lot of time and a lot of energy on this,” Gore said, leaning comfortably into his armchair. His confidence belied concern among Democrats that persistent murmurs about scandal will only remind voters of the unwanted catchwords — Whitewater, Travelgate, Filegate and Monica Lewin sky — of Gore’s shared tenure with Pres ident Clinton. “I don’t know where it’s going, who’s at fault or where the miss ing e-mails are,” Democratic strategist Jim Duffy said. “But none of this is a good story because it ties him right back to the Clinton White House.” And it feeds into Bush’s strategy. “The American people are tired of scandals and investigations. The best way to make them go away is to elect someone dif ferent,” Fleischer said., School bus, train collide, killim 2 by Chad Roedemeier Associated Press Tennga, Ga. —A freight train hauling automobiles tore a school bus off its wheels in a collision at an un protected rural crossing early Tuesday, killing two children and critically in juring five. The train dragged the bus’ battered yellow body about 100 yards. Some of . the children were thrown to the grav el beside the tracks. Others were found bloodied inside. It “sounded like ... thunder or a bomb blown up,” said Joe Brown, who. lives about 300 feet from the crossing. He said he found his best fiiend’s daugh ter among the dead John Mtson, whose two sons had missed the bus that morning, arrived with the first emergency workers and helped pull one badly injured girl from the wreckage. “I was shocked that she was still alive,” he said The crash is raising questions once again about the safety of rural, grade level crossings. The one-lane crossing, just across the state line in Tennessee, had no warn ing lights or crossing arms, and the tracks curve through pine trees in hilly ter rain, making it difficult to spot trains from the road It was unclear if the driver stopped at the tracks — Georgia law requires school buses to stop at least 15 feet from the tracks before crossing— or took other precautions, like opening the doors to listen for a train. The engineer told the Tennessee Highway Patrol he “blew his whistle, saw the bus approach the crossing, con tinued to blow his whistle and put the train in emergency stop, but was un able to stop before striking the bus,” Trooper Ken Uselton said. Killed were Kayla Silvers, 6, and Daniel Pack, 9. The driver, Rhonda Cloer, 34, was listed in fair condition. Of the five in jured children, ages 5 to 9, three were listed hr critical condition, and two were upgraded to serious. The driver’s 5 year-old daughter Kayli was among the injured. No one on the train was in jured. Cloer was driving her regular route for the Murray County school system, picking up children to take them to Northwest Elementary School north of Chatsworth. The bus had just crossed into Polk County, Term., to turn around when it was struck about 6:30 a.m. The train — a 32-car CSX freight hauling Chevy Blazers—spun the bus around, tore its body tore off its chas sis and dragged the wreckage back in Crash seepage* Ugandan officials find another mass grave at home of cult leader by Craig Nelson Associated Press Rugazi, Uganda — The house of s Christian doomsday sect leader revealec another scene of slaughter Tuesday, as prisoners on a work detail smashed through a concrete floor and discov ered a hidden mass grave. By nightfall, when work stopped, the bodies of 28 people had been unearthed. Many apparently were strangled, some with knotted cloth that still ringed theii necks. More corpses were stuffed, limb across limb, beneath the floor of the 10-by-10 room adjoining the foyer of a home owned by Dominic Kataribabo, a defrocked Roman Catholic priest. There were fears the house concealed more horrors. As workers wrestled the bodies to the surface with ropes, the thump of crow bars smashing through the floors of other rooms in the 10-room, brick-and-tin roof house echoed as in vestigators searched for other bodies. The grisly find brought to at least 591 the number of dead in three com pounds set in the lush green hills of south western Uganda that once belonged tc the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. On Mon day, police exhumed the remains of 74 people from a small field behind Katarib abo’s house. Scenes of horror linked to the apoc alyptic sect have followed with nauseat ing frequency since March 17, wlien fire engulfed the chapel of a sect compound in nearby Kahunga. At least 330 people burned to death in that inferno, which authorities initial ly called a mass suicide. Within days, in vestigators discovered six strangled, mu tilated corpses in the latrine of the compound, triggering a murder investi gation. Days after the Kanungu fire, 153 more bodies were found buried in a Buhunga village compound belonging to the sect. Police discovered, the first Rugazi mass grave Friday, when they came to in spect the Kataribabo’s compound. On Tuesday, forensics experts and in vestigators from the capital Kampala ar rived to unearth the bodies of 74 peo ple exhumed by local officials from a trench in Kataribabo’s backyard and re buried only Monday. As the bodies were pulled from the mass grave, a forensic expert performed a quick autopsy and drew tissue and blood samples. Investigators questioned Kataribabo’s neighbors and relatives. His nephew, Bart Bainomukama, led them to the foyer, where there were signs fresh concrete had been poured. Bainomukama told po lice that his uncle had said he was dig ging a pit to install an underground re frigerator. A hole driven through the floor quickly revealed the sight of a human leg. Authorities are pursuing the two main leaders of the movement — Cledonia Mwerinde and Joseph Kibwetere, an ex communicated Roman Catholic; — in connection with the murders. News Briefs ■ Public won’t see graphic details in Colubmine report Denver (AP) —Authorities have de cided to release an edited report on the Columbine High School shooting ram page in late May, after consulting with victims’ families about the best time to make it public. Jefferson County sheriff’s officials want to minimize additional trauma for the families by editing out graphic details. They also want to avoid releasing the re port around the April 20 anniversary of the attack. The report will be issued in late May on CD-ROM, with about 200 pages of text, and video and audio data, Undersh eriff John Dunaway said. It hasn’t yet been completely assembled, he said. “What we are trying to do is create a shared understanding with the nation about this event,” Dunaway told a gov ernor’s commission on Monday. ■ Reno testifies in Branch Davidian wrongful death suit Washington (AP) — Attorney Gen eral Janet Reno testified Tuesday that she never gave approval for tanks to demol ish the Branch Davidians’ compound near V&co, Texas, say lawyers for the sect who deposed her for their wrongful-death law suit against the government. The Davidians’ lead counsel, emerg ing from the rare deposition of an attor ney general, said Reno was less than forth coming in discussing whether the FBI intended to dismantle the complex dur ing its tear-gassing operation. “The only issue where we felt that she was less than candid was on the de molition,” Houston lawyer Michael Cad dell said outside the Justice Department. “The problem that she’s got is she testi fied to Congress in 1995 that the damage done to the building was the result of tear gas insertion. And I think it’s very diffi cult for her to back off of that testimo ny.” U.S. Attorney Michael Bradford of Texas, one of five Justice lawyers who flanked Reno at the two-hour deposition, disputed Caddell’s claim. “We would strongly disagree with his interpretation,” he said. “She was forthcoming and candid and answered all the questions. Her testimo ny will speak for itself, but it was con sistent throughout the deposition with her past testimony,” said Bradford, who is one of the government’s chief defend ers in the Davidian litigation. ■ Satisfied Bush is conservative, Forbes endorses him Manville, N.J. (AP) — Satisfied that George W. Bush supports conservative positions, Steve Forbes endorsed his for mer Republican presidential rival on Tues day as a “good man.” The millionaire magazine publisher threw his suppport to Bush during an ap pearance with the Texas governor in Forbes’ home state of New Jersey. The endorsement came hours after Bush reached out to resolve another lingering division from the primary campaign by calling John McCain in Washington to discuss a face-to-face meeting. McCain aides said it was premature to discuss a formal endorsement, but Forbes dropped all of his previous reservations about Bush during a speech to a group of Somerset County Republicans gathered in a VFW hall. “As the American people are learn ing and will learn, he is a good man,” Forbes said “He has been tested — I tfjed totesthim—and he emerged the striker ' fork.” ■ U.N. names World Food Program official United Nations (AP) —The United Nations named a World Food Program of ficial Tuesday as its new humanitarian co ordinator for Iraq, replacing a German official who resigned to protest the effect of sanctions on the Iraqi people. The new coordinator, Tun Myat of Myanmar, has worked for the United Na tions since 1978 and is currently the di rector of external relations at WFP’s Rome headquarters, U.N. spokesman Fred Eck hardsaid His predecessor, Hans von Spon^f k, was the second humanitarian coord. :a tor in Iraq to quit over the impact of sanc tions imposed after Baghdad’s 1990 in vasion of Kuwait Denis Halliday of Ireland quit in 1998, saying he didn’t want to be associated with the suffering of the civilian population.