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Bush’s role in executions still issue by Kelley Shannon Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas— Gov. George W. Bush gets criticized for his hands-off approach to state executions, but state law leaves little room for governors to act in these life-and-death decisions. Supporters say Bush, the Republican presi dential nominee, allows the 18-member Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to do its job freely by maintaining an arm’s-length relationship. “The governor leaves it up to each parole board member to make their own decisions af ter they review the case. They’re an independent body,” said Bush spokesman Mike Jones. Others contend that Bush does direct the board — through his public statements on exe cutions and his power to appoint members to their six-year, $80,000-per-year jobs. All current board members are Bush ap pointees. “It does seem that they would want to be in line with his way of thinking about it,” said Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the Death Penal ty Information Center. Bush has said he supports the death penalty and doesn’t believe an inno cent person has been exe cuted in Texas during his ad ministration. David Dow, a University of Houston law professor who represents condemned in mates, suggests both Bush and his Democratic predecessor, Ann Richards, have used the parole board as an excuse to avoid having to make a tough, moral decision.” In Texas, the governor can only issue a one time, 30-day reprieve or act on a recommenda tion of the parole board to grant a stay, commute a sentence or issue a pardon. Those limits evolved front a pardons scandal in the 1920s and are aimed at preventing a governor from granting continu ous reprieves. Since Bush became governor in 1995, the state has executed 143 people, including 32 this year. Texas has executed 231 people in the past two decades, the most in the nation. Three more executions are scheduled before the Nov. 7 presidential election, including that of high-profile inmate Ricky Nolen McGinn on Sept. 27. Bush granted a 30 day reprieve for McGinn in June — the only reprieve he , has granted as governor—so (that further DNA testing could be done. But the tests failed to clear McGinn in the rape and murder of his 12 year-old stepdaughter. Bush never has witnessed an execution, ror the most part, he limits his role to privately quizzing his attorneys about cases, aides say. Unlike Richards, who met with her general counsel about executions, Bush has met with the staff lawyers who studied condemned inmates’ cases, said Jim Sallans, a former staff attorney who reviewed death row cases for both gover nors. Sallans left after Bush’s first term. Bush would read the lawyer’s memo—about three to four pages—and talk with the attorney, usually from 15 minutes to 45 minutes but per haps up to two hours, Sallans said. Ultimately, Sallans said, Bush would ask: “OK, Did he do it? Did he get a fair trial?” Bush did not try to instruct the board how to vote, he said. “That’s political suicide,” Sallans said. Gerald Garrett, the board chairman, said Bush takes a hands-off approach with members, telling * them, “in essence, make the right decision and if there is political fallout, so be it.” The Texas governor does not have the pow er to declare a moratorium on executions, as Illi nois Gov. Geoige Ryan, a Republican, has done. Some suggest Bush, if concerned about the fairness of Texas’ death penalty, could use his power of persuasion to generate public support for a moratorium. “He could have a much higher profile in the Texas death penalty debate, if he wanted to,” said Dow, the professor who has represented inmates. Dow also contends that governors can communicate with the parole board as much as they wish, through direct dialogue or public state ments. Case in point: Henry Lee Lucas. Bush asked the parole board to investigate the conviction of Lucas, a drifter sentenced to death for the murder of an unidentified woman known as “Orange Socks.” The parole board recommended commuting Lucas’ sentence to life in prison, and Bush ap proved it in June 1998. Libya celebrates hostages’ return from Phillipines by Sarah El Deeb Associated Press TRIPOLI, Libya — Four former hostages cel ebrated freedom Tuesday by the sea in Libya while officials in the Philippines promised to crack down on rebels still holding 19 captives. “We are now facing the sunrise after a long time of darkness,” said Risto Vahanen, one of the four hostages brought to Libya to thank the gov ernment that engineered their release from Abu Sayyaf rebels, reportedly by paying $1 million in ransom for each. Vahanen, as well as Finnish, French and German foreign ministry officials, spoke at an hourlong ceremony arranged by Libya in a court yard of the Red Palace, a historic fortress on the Mediterranean bordering Tripoli’s ancient walled Quarter. The ceremony comes three days after Libya bought the four captives’ freedom—and one day after Vahanen said the Abu Sayyaf rebels, who liave been holding hostages in the southern Philip pines for months now, raped some of their female captives. Speaking to reporters in Tripoli Tuesday, he denied he had spoken of rape and said their mis treatment included inappropriate touching of the women. Libyan officials have played a prominent role in negotiations with the rebels. Libya paid $10 million to win the freedom of 10 hostages, in cluding the four released Saturday, according to negotiators in the Philippines. The six others, released late last month, were brought to Tripoli soon afterward for a welcom ing ceremony that Libyan officials turned into an anti-American affair. It was held at the ruins of the house where Gadhafi’s adopted daughter was killed in a 1986 U.S. bombing. There was little hint of anti-U.S. sentiment Tuesday. “Now that the sun has risen again, we are fac- • ing a new life that we think will be very reward ing. And in our new life, we have got a lot of new friends and new parents. We have adopted (Libyan negotiator) Dr. Rajab Azzarouq as our new fa ther,” Vahanen said. German Marc Wallert, Frenchman Stephane Loisy and Finn Seppo Franti joined Finnish, Ger man and French dignitaries listening to speeches TnpcHav hv a renrpcenlalivp nf the Gadhafl III temational Association for Charitable Organiza tions, a nominally private group headed by Gad hafi’s son that led efforts to win the their freedom. Almost immediately afterward, all four for mer hostages flew out of Libya, headed home at last. Asked after the ceremony whether Libya’s prestige had been boosted, Seif el-Islam Gadhafi said, “of course.” The elder Gadhafi, who did not attend Tues day’s ceremony, said last week he hopes for im proved relations with the United States. His in tervention on behalf of the hostages has been seen as an attempt to repair relations with the world after years of being branded a sponsor of terror ism and destabilization. U.N. sanctions against Libya were suspended last year when it handed over for trial in the West two of its government officials accused in the 1988 / ■. * Libya seepages r Europeans protest gas prices by Bryan Brumley Associated Press LONDON— Protesters and union leaders called for European governments to slash fu el taxes, vowing Tuesday to widen demon strations that have snarled traffic, blockaded refineries, led hospitals to cut back on am bulance services and prompted motorists to stock up on gasoline. Truckers, taxi drivers, farmers, tour op erators and others who claim that high oil prices are hurting their businesses protested in Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany. “These guys are doing it to save their livelihoods,” said Mike Salmon, of the British Road Haulage Association, representing protest ing truck drivers. Across Britain, thousands of gas stations were closed .and tanker fleets were at a stand still. Some hospital patients faced delayed suigeries as ambulances were put on an emer gency-only schedule. Prime Minister Tony Blair canceled a planned trip to the north to hold emeigency meetings with key ministers. Queen Eliza beth and her senior advisers gave the gov ernment the go-ahead to employ emer gency measures, but officials had not specified wliat those might be. In Belgium, truckers intensified their protests by blockading gasoline depots, dis rupting freeway traffic and maintaining a stran glehold on main thoroughfares in the capital. Brussels. Truckers also slowed traffic on a freeway linking Brussels with the northern port of Antwerp. The main freeway to Luxembouig was jammed and the highway from Brussels to the French city of Lille was blocked at the border. Negotiations between road liaulage unions and the Belgian government were to re sume after breaking up Monday evening. Truckers in the Netherlands set up road blocks on five major freeways on the second day of unorganized protests. In the western German city of Saar brucken, more than 200 trucks, buses and taxis drove honking their homs through the center of town, near the French border. Ral lying in front of the state parliament build ing, the protesters demanded that an energy tax imposed by the Social Democratic-led government be repealed. The protesters want their governments to follow the French lead in granting con cessions. Both the British and German governments said they would not do so. The handful of French protests Tuesday were held by shop keepers and professionals who claimed to have been cut out of the deal. “We cannot and we will not alter gov ernment policy on petrol tlirough blockades and pickets,” Blair said Monday, drawing ah angry reaction Tuesday from the protesters. “Tony Blair has made a gross mistake and has grossly underestimated the will of the country.” said Brynle Williams, a spokesman for protesting famiers and truckers. Police cleared the route to one oil ter minal in Norfolk early Tuesday, but had not moved against protesters elsewhere. A high proportion of British gasoline sta tions had no fuel whatsoever, up to 90 per cent in Wales, and many of those that were open had only diesel, according to automo bile clubs and oil companies. Texaco spokesmen said 350 of the com pany’s stations, mostly in Wales and south west England, were out or nearly out of fu el. A spokesman for Shell said 520 of its filling stations were in similar straits. In Wales, police said one motorist, An thony Probert, 62, died after waiting more than an hour for gas. “It is difficult to say what caused the man’s death at this point. But it must liave been very stressful situation waiting in a car on a hot day worrying that you may not be able to get fu el,” said Sgt. Andrew Lloyd of Abergavenny police. A decision by the Organization of Pe troleum Exporting Countries to raise its pro duction quota by 800,000 barrels a day had no immediate impact on the protests, although it did send October contracts of North Sea Brent crude down 45 cents to $32.33 a bar rel on the International Petroleum Exchange in London! For European motorists, unleaded gaso line can cost more than $4 per gallon, a far higher price than in the United States. Campaign 2000 \ ' , » Gore promotes plan for education by Mike Glover Associated Press MIAMISBURG, Ohio— Seeking to reclaim a traditional Democratic issue, A1 Gore and running mate Joe Lieberman conceded there are “some similarities” between their edu cation proposals and rival Geoige W. Bush’s plan, but promoted their ideas as far more sweeping. “What we’re proposing is a comprehen sive approach that focuses on the classroom,” Gore told middle school students in Miamis buig Tuesday. “The difference is we start with accountability, we don’t end with account ability” Gore and Lieberman rumbled across south ern Ohio in separate yellow school buses, touting the $170 billion they would pour in to education. Gore strategists were worried that Republican presidential nominee Bush, who also talks often about schools, has made inroads on the issue that have shown up in their internal polling. “The amount we would invest in schools is far, far greater than that from the other side,” Gore said. “Those are the basic differ ences.” . Gore and Lieberman then headed to a Middletown high school where they lunched with students and visited classes to give se niors a pep talk. “We want America’s schools to be the W best in the world,” said Licberman. “That’s not only critical for the children, it’s critical for the country.” Gore picked a cheeseburger and pasta for lunch, sitting in a jammed cafeteria with students and teachers. Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett ridiculed the bus caravan and the proposals as nothing new. “If A1 Gore’s school bus is anything like his education proposal it will have four flat tires,” Bartlett said. “A1 Gores’ education plan is more of the status quo.” Gore and Lieberman promoted their plan to give a bonus to teachers who agree to work in high-need areas but also returned to their theme that classroom discipline needs to be improved. One student told Gore that young sters need to be protected from violent movies and video games, and Gore dismissed critics who worry that cracking down on entertain ment violence raises free speech issues. “They just don’t understand the truth of it. That’s a big problem,” Gore said. While promoting new programs to help students from preschoool to college, Gore and Licberman also focused on requiring teach ers to be accountable and meet tough new standards. “It's more than just putting money in, you have to have results,” Gore told students, par ents and teachers on a bus rolling toward Mid dletown. “If you want to get more out of the schools, you have to measure the perfor mance.” It was a balancing act for the Democrat ic ticket. The vice president and Lieberman are backed by the politically potent teacher unions, based largely on their call for liiring new teach ers and boosting their pay. Campaign aides took care to underscore other proposals, including teacher testing and “a qualified teacher in every classroom.” Teachers’ unions traditionally have opposed proposals for testing. Their package also calls for testing of stu dents in the fourth, eighth and 12th grades, and would begin grading schools under a pro gram offering benefits to those that “close the achievement gap.” The package also begins to build a line of defense for the Democrats’ opposition to school vouchers, which Bush supports. Back ers of vouchers aigue those who would gain the most are inner-city youngsters in failing schools who would get a better education if given the chance to attend private school. Gore argues that public schools would suf fer if government funds are diverted and spent on private education. Lieberman has supported vouchers, but now defers to Gore's posi tion. Gore and Lieberman also would identify failing schools and make sure “children are receiving the help they need.” News Briefs ■ FDA says chick en pox vaccine so far is safe CHICAGO— Three years of data oh the chicken pox vaccine since it first be came available show it is generally a safe _ and effective way to prevent a mostly ' annoying but potentially serious child hood disease, the government says. Of the 6,574 problems linked to the vaccine that were reported to the gov ernment between its approval in March 1995 and July 25, 1998, most were minor complications, such as rash es or pain at the injection site, the Food and Drug Administration said. ■ Daily News gives commuters afternoon edition NEW YORK — The Daily News Ex-' press, a free newspaper for afternoon commuters, made its way to readers for the first time Tuesday, with a banner headline “RATS!” and a hope for suc cess. The headline led to a bylined story about Democrats questioning whether a new Republican campaign ad-contained a subliminal message, the word “rats” set off within the word “bureaucrats.” Also on Page One: a report on suspended Yankee slugger Darryl Strawberry’s Florida court appearance in which he admitted to driving under the influence of medication and leaving the scene of an accident. “We made it by 10 minutes,” an ex ultant Editor Brian Moss said as the 11:30 a.m. deadline arrived. ■ Ford recalls Escapes for wheel problems DETROIT—Troubles with new models has forced Ford Motor Co. to re call about 23,500 vehicles — including the third production problem with the Ford Escape sport utility vehicle. Ford said Tuesday it was recalling 1,582 Escapes built without four-wheel drive or antilock brakes. An inspection of some vehicles before they were sold found that two had been built with wheel hubs used on the four-wheel-drive ver sion. That mistake could cause the wheel to come loose. Ford spokesman Mike Vaughn said only a handful of Escapes with the prob lem were sold to customers. Ford noti fied customers with the vehicles last month. ■ Remains found of girl missing DALTON, Ark. — Bones found by a hunter have been identified as those of an 8-year-old girl who vanished more than two years ago when her family was murdered. The bones, discovered Friday in a re mote area a few miles south of the Mis souri state line, were confirmed to be the remains of Felicia Elliott on Monday, state police said. The murders remain un solved. Felicia’s whereabouts had been a mystery since July 30, 1998, when po lice discovered the bodies of Lisa Elliott, 27, and her 7-year-old son Gregory at the family’s home in Dalton. Both had been bludgeoned to death. ■ Federal court won’t stop execution RICHMOND, Va. —A federal judge refused Tuesday to stop the execution of Derek. R. Bamabei, dismissing defense arguments of “deliberate and malicious tampering” with the evidence by the state. “Bamabei is... guilty of the rape and capital murder,” Spencer said. Bamabei, 33, is scheduled to be ex ecuted Thursday night for the 1993 rape and murder of Sarah Wisnosky, a 17-year old college freshman he had been dating. The victim was strangled and struck re peatedly with a blunt instrument.