The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 02, 2000, Page 3, Image 3
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12 Palestenians killed in Israel
by Karin Laub
Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Israeli troops battling several
gunmen and thousands of rock-throwing Palestini
ans opened fire Saturday, killing 12 Palestinians in
the bloodiest clashes in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip since 1996. More than 500 Palestinians were
injured, the Palestinian health minister said.
Among those killed was a 12-year-old boy who
was caught in the cross fire. Cowering behind his
father, he screamed in panic as shots hit a wall just
inches above their heads. Seconds later, the boy was
fatally shot in the abdomen.
' The trigger for the violence was a visit by Is
rael’s hard-line opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, last
week to a bitterly contested Jerusalem shrine sa
cred to Muslims and Jews. Sharon said he toured
the compound to show Israel was in control
there.
On Friday, six Palestinians were killed and close
to 200 wounded in clashes in the walled compound.
“The battle over Jerusalem has begun,” said
Bassem Naim, a Palestinian activist, as thousands
of protesters chanting the Muslim battle cry “ Al
lahu Akbar,” or “God is Great,” marched toward
an Israeli army position.
Further dimming prospects for an Israeli:Pales
tinian peace treaty, the two sides traded angry ac
cusations Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak spoke to
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat by phone, late Sat
urday. “The prime minister warned Arafat that he
(Barak) will not let violence be a tool in the nego
tiations,” Barak’s office said in a statement.
Israel’s army chief, Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, said
the Palestinian Authority did nothing to stop the
violence, and that Palestinian police officers in some
cases even participated in the clashes.
Palestinian peace negotiator Nabil Shaath called
the deadly confrontations at the Jerusalem shrine
a “premeditated massacre” by Israeli security forces,
aimed at proving that Israel is sovereign there.
From the town of Jenin in the northern edge
of the West Bank to Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives
and the dusty refugee camp of Khan Yunis at the
end of the Gaza Strip, similar scenes were replayed
over and over Saturday.
Palestinian youths hurled rocks, some twirling
slingshots for a longer aim. Others stuffed gasoline
soaked rags into bottles and threw them at Israeli
soldiers who fired rubber-coated steel pellets and
live rounds from behind walls and jeeps.
Streets were littered with rocks, garbage bins
were overturned and plumes of black smoke from
burning tires rose into the sky. In Hebron, rioters
running out of rocks had them ferried to the
scene in taxis.
The Palestinian Authority, providing a list of
names and ages, said 12 Palestinians were killed and
four were brain dead as a result of army fire. The
Palestinian health minister, Riad Zanoun, said 523
Palestinians were injured. The Israeli army said
11 soldiers were injured.
Tax break extension
given to U.S. businesses
by Martin Crutsinger
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A last -minute
agreement Saturday with the European
Union gives the United States until Nov.
1 to replace a $4 billion annual tax break
for American companies that sell goods
abroad, from giants Microsoft and Boe
ing to small businesses.
The Clinton administration was ne
% gotiating against a Sunday deadline for
bringing U.S. tax laws into compliance
with an adverse ruling from the World
Trade Oiganization. The dispute involves
the biggest case the United States has lost
before the Geneva-based arbiter of world
trade rules.
Congress now has until Nov. 1 to pass
the legislation. The EU agreed not to im
pose any economic penalties until a WTO
panel determines whether the new tax
system complies with WTO rules.
A top Senate Republican, Finance
Committee Chairman William Roth of
Delaware, said he was hopeful Congress
would approve the legislation “in very
short order.”
At issue is a U.S. tax program that
grants $4.1 billion in annual tax breaks
to 6,000 American companies which set
up export subsidiaries in offshore tax f
havens such as the Virgin Islands and Bar- I
bados.
The WTO in February ruled that it
was an illegal export subsidy.
“The United States and European
Union today demonstrated a commit
ment to avoid escalating trans-Atlantic
trade tensions and managing this WTO
trade dispute responsibly,” U.S. Trade
Representative Charlene Barshefsky said |
in a statement.
In a separate statement, Pascal Lamy,
Europe’s top trade negotiator, said, “Our
priority is to resolve disputes, not exac
erbate them.”
Lamy, however, repeated the EU po
sition that the legislation, which has passed
the House, still would violate interna
tional trade laws.
Abortion opponents want
government to limit pill use
by Pauline Jelinek.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Abortion opponents contended Sun
day that the new abortion pill may-be unsafe and raised the
possibility of government action to limit its use.
Reform Party presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan
called RU-486, the early-abortion method approved Thurs
day by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the
United States, “a human pesticide.”
As president, “I would use all the power of my office,
including appointments at the FDA, to prevent its being
put on the market,” Buchanan said on NBC’s “Meet the
Press.”
Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, also on NBC,
countered that use of the drug is “up to the woman, not
the government.”
“This is a pill that’s been shown to be safe in Europe
for nOmerous years,” Nader said. “And it’s preferable to
surgical procedure.”
Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark„ said on ABC’s “This
’ftfeek” that there are “a lot of questions” surrounding the
safety of the pill — and that the outcome of next
month’s election will determine whether Congress has
enough votes next year to put limits on its use.
Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority
Foundation, also on ABC, said the drug had undeigone
“tremendous review" by the FEA.
“They can protest as much as they want," she said of
abortion foes. “This is a safe, effective method.” *
One lawmaker, Rep. Tom Cobum, R-Okla., said after
the FDA’s decision that he would promote legislation call
ing for severe limits on which doctors could administer
mifepristone, the pill’s chemical name.
The Christian Coalition’s Pat Robertson said on CBS’s
“Face the Nation” that the drug’s approval was a “politi
cal ploy” by Democrats to comer Republican presidential
nominee George W. Bush on the subject.
Bush, whose father’s administration banned RU486
imports in 1989, opposes abortion. Vice President Gore
supports the pill option.
Robertson said the pill should be reviewed to deter
mine if it’s a “danger to women.”
The pill blocks action of a hormone essential for main
taining pregnancy. It has been used by millions of Euro
pean women since it was approved rearly a decade ago.
Anti-abortion advocates have fought hard to keep the drug
out of the United States since it first appeared in France.
Truckers support Milosevic’s opposition
' by Katrina K r a t,o v a c
Associated Press
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — Encouraged by
cheering crowds, a convoy of 60 trucks blocked a
key highway Sunday as opposition forces sought to
'gather support for a nationwide strike aimed at
showing President Slobodan Milosevic he must re
linquish power.
The trucks — taking part in a “dress rehearsal”
.for a series of full-scale blockades planned for Mon
day — were greeted by jubilant supporters as
they passed through the opposition stronghold Ca
cak in central Yugoslavia. Some people tossed flow
ers as the trucks headed to an important highway
linking Belgrade with southern Yugoslavia.
The truckers brandished banners and posters of
\fojislav Kostunica, whom the opposition and Wfest
em leaders insist trounced Milosevic in Sept. 24
V elections. Milosevic rejects the claims and says a
run-off election is needed Oct. 8.
Smaller, traffic-snarling blockades were held at
main intersections in the capital Belgrade. Dri
vers honked horns and pedestrians blew whistles
and shook toy rattles—playing on a local expres
sion for something broken beyond repair.
“No way are we going to settle for a run-off
and that is now the law for everyone in this coun
try,” said Velimir Ilic, the mayor of Cacak, an in
dustrial town of 80,000 people. Later Sunday, about
10,000 opposition supporters gathered at the main
town square for a seventh consecutive night of an
ti-Milosqvic rallies there.
“Our victory is as pure as a diamond,” Ilic told
the crowd. “Kostunica is the elected president and
we must persist in our resistance.” He called for a
total blockade of the town Monday.
Opposition leader Milan Protic urged people
to come out into the streets Monday, stay away
from their jobs and keep their children away from
school. Protic acknowledged that it would take time
to build momentum among a public drained by years
■ of conflict and economic misery.
Protic, the oppositi6n candidate for Belgrade
mayor, said the protest leaders would try to esca
late the tempo systematically “until Milosevic
realizes that he is no longer president.
In Washington, the National Security Council
spokesman P.J. Crowley said the Milosevic oppo
sition is “getting stronger.”
“They are sending a strong message to Milo
sevic: ‘Your time in office is over,’” he said.
BuUhe cautious pace of the opposition’s cam
paign raises questions about whether they will have
the momentum to carry out their threats of bring
ing the entire country to a complete standstill.
Authorities in Yugoslavia’s main republic, Ser
bia, warned students against joining the Monday
strike, saying “events disrupting school activities”
for political purposes “are illegal. ” Students in Nis
and other cities walked out of class during protests
last week.
Workers have also walked out in vital sectors:
the laigest coal mine, a key oil refinery, railway
lines. The strikes raised the prospect of power
and fuel shortages. The independent Beta news
agency said about 1,000 workers in another coal
mine in Kostolac joined the strikes Sunday.
. The government urged miners Sunday to re
turn to work because a prolonged stoppage could
effect electricity supplies since the country relies
heavily on coal-fired power plants.
International pressure continued to build on
Milosevic, who had rejected an offer of high-lev
el mediation by close ally Russia.
The president of neighboring Romania, Emil
Constantinescu, urged Milosevic to concede defeat
and congratulated Kostunica for his “historic vic
tory.”
Opposition leaders, using figures from their poll
watchers, claim Kostunica won the election with
51.34 percent to 36.22 percent for Milosevic.
But the Federal Electoral Commission, in a tally
criticized by the United States and other countries,
says Kostunica fell short of the majority needed
to avoid a runoff.
Even Russian President Vladimir Putin —
one of Milosevic’s last major allies — appeared to
move toward the Western view that the Yugoslav
leader was finished.
In Berlin,'the German government said Putin
and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder spoke by tele
phone late Saturday and agreed that “Kostunica’s
election victory emphatically expresses the will of
the Serbian people for a democratic change in Yu
goslavia.”
There was no comment from the Russians, and
the foreign ministry Sunday repeated Moscow’s
position that Yugoslavs themselves should “decide
for themselves” the outcome of the election.
Milosevic turned down an offer by Putin to
send his foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, to Belgrade
to meet with both sides. But two senior Russian
diplomats — Vladimir Chizhov and Alexander
Tolkach — arrived in Serbia late Saturday. The state
Tanjug news agency reported Chizov visited Koso
vo on Sunday and was to have official meetings in
Belgrade the following day.
‘Our victory is as pure as a diamond. Kostunica is the elected presi
dent and we must persist in our resistance.'
Velimir llic
Mayor of Cacak, Yugoslavia
%Closing ceremonies of Olympics culminate with fireworks
by Mort Rosenblum
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia — Sydneysiders watched
their beloved bridge spit red fire, as it foamed
gold into the harbor below. Then, in a final blaze
. of luminous glory, the five Olympic rings explod
ed to blackness.
“Bring back the rings,” screamed Malena
Cordera, a law clerk who watched in rapt amaze
ment Sunday night with a more than a million oth
ers. “I miss them already.”
Across the water, real estate mogul Peter
Kampfer beamed with pride when Juan Antonio
Samaranch pronounced Sydney 2000 the “best
games ever. ” This time, he knew, the venerable
Olympics czar was not exaggerating.
“I’m speechless,” said Kampfer, who is usual
ly not. “In my wildest dreams I did not expect
everything to go so well. People will go home, and
they will remember us.”
After seven years of preparation, Aussies had
dazzled, charmed and — if medals are counted on
a per capita basis — conquered a world that too of
ten forgets about them.
“G’day,” the introductory cliche, is widely re
placed by the congratulatory: “Good on ya.”
Tom and Louisa Shields, on a backpack hon
eymoon from San Francisco, came away as com
mitted Oz lovers. “We were really impressed with
everything,” Tom said. “The people, the transport,
the whole thing.”
And the final flourish, an orgy of pyrotech
nics that seemed to light up half the Southern Hemi
sphere, elevated them to gush mode.
“My God, you didn’t know where to look,”
Louisa said. “Firework came from overhead, from
the sides, from the tops of buildings.”
She foigot to mention the streak of flame 1,000
feet up as an F-111 fighter bomber buzzejd the har
bor bridge trailing ignited fuel.
With every outsider’s accolade, Australians
seemed to lose more of the condition known here
as “cultural cringe,” a collective anxiety about what
everyone else thinks about them.
“Australians now realize how good they can
be, and this will inspire us in other areas,” said Paul
Vlagsma, a University of Sydney engineer. “As far
as I’m concerned, the Olympics can go on forev
er.”
But the games ended Sunday night, and news
paper headlines predicted psychologists would be
overwhelmed with cases of post-rings letdown.
Traffic, miraculously free-flowing during the
Olympics because so many Sydneysiders left town,
will go back to its habitual snarl. Bar talk will be
deprived of the butt of so many jokes: the Sydney
oiganizing committee.
The games seemed to bring out the Aussies’
best. Praise was heaped upon 47,000 volunteers
who shepherded visitors, hauled supplies, solved
problems and, essentially, made the games happen.
Wry, irreverent wit pervaded the Aussie-style
Olympics, making believers of the most cynical.
Each night at 11 p.m., Australia watched “The
Dream,” a sort of adults-only “Sports Night”
with two commentators, Roy and HG, who reported
on the day’s action.
Their furry stuffed animal, Fatso the Wombat,
eclipsed the three official cuddly mascots. Fatso
was auctioned off for $40,000.
After being turned away from the U.S. team’s
party venue, they gibed at Yankee unfriendliness.
In references to past games, they say “toilet” for
Atlanta. New slang for visiting the men’s room is
“going to Atlanta.”
Beneath the surface, there was bitterness and
dispute. Ric Birch, who directed the smash-hit open
ing ceremony and the closing^ announced he was
moving to California with his American wife.
News Briefs
■ Tropical storm
gaining strength
•
MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Keith
promised to become a hurricane Satur
day as it gained strength and moved west
toward Mexico, forecasters said.
A hurricane watch — which may be
stepped up to a warning as the storm pro
gresses — remained in effect along the
Yucatan peninsula’s eastern shore, as far
south as Belize, according to the National
Hurricane Center in Miami.
At 5 a.m. EDT, Keith was centered
about 165 miles south of Cozumel
with top sustained winds of 70 mph. It
was heading west-northwest at an in
creased clip of 7 mph. The threshold for
a tropical storm to become a hurricane
is 74 mph. **
Keith was expected to maintain its
path and pace through Saturday morn
ing, then turn northwest, toward land, at
nightfall.
■ NHTSA looks in
to another Fire
stone tire brand
WASHINGTON (AP) —The Na
tional Highway Traffic Safety Adminis
tration has received more than 160
complaints about another Firestone
brand of tires. They reportedly have
been involved in accidents in which
two people died and a dozen were in
jured. “The majority of the complaints
occurred at highway speeds and allege
a blowout, tread separation or other
major failure,” NHTSA said in its in
vestigation report about the Steeltex
R4S and A/T light truck tires. Those
tires are original equipment on Ford
F250 and F350 pickups, the Ford Ex
cursion, General Motors’ Suburban
and G Van, a commercial vehicle. Sim
ilar reports led Bridgestone/Firestone
Inc. to issue its recall of 6.5 million *
Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness
AT tires last month.
■ Friends stunned
at gay student’s
beating death
WASHINGTON (AP) — People
who knew Gallaudet University fresh
man Eric Franklin Plunkett say he had
no enemies. That’s why the beating
death of Plunkett, 19, who was deaf,
had cerebral palsy and was a leader of a
gay campus group, is that much harder
to accept. “The biggest question here
now is, ‘Why?’” Chester Vimig, Plun
kett’s mentor and a math teacher at the
Minnesota State Academy for the
Deaf, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Plunkett, of Burnsville, Minn., was
found in his dormitory room Thursday
night, according to police Cmdr. Jen
nifer Greene.
■ Armstrong cele
brates despite
missing gold goal
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) —
Lance Armstrong won bronze, not
gold. He’ll celebrate anyway. Two days
before he marks the fourth anniversary
of his cancer diagnosis with his cus
tomary party, Armstrong finished third
in the 33-mile Olympic time trial Sat
urday. The two-time Tour de France
champion lost to Viacheslav Ekintov of
Russia, who races with Armstrong on
the U.S. Postal Service trade team.
Ekimov won the gold with a time of
57 minutes, 40 seconds.
■ Peter Gennaro,
choreographer of
‘Annie,’ dies at 80
NEW YORK (AP) — Peter Gen
naro, whose choreography for the
1977 musical “Annie” won him a
Tony award and whose dance se
quences and dancing entertained mil
lions on Perry Como’s “Kraft Music
Hall” in the 1960s, has died at age 80.
As a performer, Gennaro captivated
the critics in shows like “Pajama
Game” in 1954 and “Bells Are Ring
ing,” with Judy Holliday, in 1956. As a
choreographer he left his mark on mu
sicals from “West Side Story” (1957),