Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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’ Milosevic allies leave talks by George Jahn Associated Press BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — Al lies of the ousted Slobodan Milosevic, ignoring a sharp warning of renewed pop ular revolt in Yugoslavia, abruptly broke i off talks Tuesday on handing over what remaining authority they hold. Since taking over last week, newly installed President Vojislav Kostunica ;uid his pro-democracy allies have had days of success in forcing appointees of the toppled strongman from office. m Tuesday’s move by the Milosevic al lies threatened the chances of a peace ful transfer of power: Milosevic’s So cialists mid the allied Radicals walked out of talks on forming a new govern ment in Serbia, the laigest Yugoslav re public. They said they would come back only “after the end of riots, violence and lawlessness against the citizens of Ser bia.”, They were alluding to increasing at tacks against fomier Milosevic proteges, such as leaders of state companies and other institutions still run by the fomier president’s people. Reported incidents include a forceful takeover of the state customs office, major banks mid nearly all key companies and factories remain ing in pro-Milosevic hands. The Radicals said people were being “lynched by mobs belonging to the il legal regime of the Democratic Opposi tion.” And even those close to Kostuni ca acknowledged the potential for “abuses” during the transfer of power: A statement from Kostunica’s econom ic and policy advisers appealed to “all employees and those in managing posi tions in institutions and companies to... protect property and prevent various abuses.” The Milosevic allies’ walkout pro voked a sharp response from a pro democracy leader. The “people’s patience is exhaust ed,” said Velimir Ilic, the mayor of Ca cak. “Serbs are so eager to see changes, and I do not know who and how they will protect Socialists if they continue to drag their feet.” He said his supporters in Cacak were ready to march on Belgrade again if nec essary. Ilic played a key role in the march on Belgrade that flared into violence Thursday, leading columns of protesters from his central Serbian town in their onslaught on the Yugoslav parliament and state TV building. The uprising even tually forced Milosevic to concede elec toral defeat to Kostunica. Even before the talks broke down, there were problems Tuesday. Kostuni ca’s key aide, Zoran Djindjic, said Milo sevic’s cronies were trying to retain con trol over the police by keeping Serbia’s interior ministry. And he said that State Security is “still closed for us.” “There are attempts of consolida tion within Secret Service,” he said. “We have warned them we do not want con flicts. We expect that the people from that service realize that the situation has changed.” Djindjic said State Security activi ties, including wiretapping, liad resumed. It was unclear to whom the service was reporting. Eager to shore up his power base, Kostunica is trying to install his own sup porters to head the country’s most im portant institutions, including the police, judiciary, banks and state-run companies. The breakdown of talks dampened the euphoria of the past few days, which have seen Kostunica’s inauguration as presi dent and the peaceful consolidation of much of the nation’s authority around him. In a boost to the pro-democracy pres ident struggling to assume control after years of Slobodan Milosevic’s rule, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said Tuesday that assistance to Yugoslavia’s new leadership is Europe’s “top priori ty-” Vedrine is the first official from a NATO country that bombed Yugoslavia to visit Belgrade since last week’s up rising. France is also the current chair man of the European Union, which lift ed sanctions against Yugoslavia on Monday and promised $2 billion in aid. Vedrine said Kostunica will attend an EU summit meeting Friday raid Sat urday in the French Atlantic resort of Biarritz. Kostunica said the EU-decision to lift sanctions against Yugoslavia will “en able us to move closer to what always has been our natural environment —- Eu rope.” Vedrine — like President Clinton and dozens of other Western leaders — was sentenced in absentia to 20 years' in jail by Milosevic’s court last month for ordering the NATO air strikes. Kostunica and other pro-democracy lead ers here no longer consider Milosevic’s decisions valid. With their economy in * * ruins, many Yugoslavs want an end to the international isolation imposed on their country after the Balkan wars of the Milosevic era. Serbia’s president and parliament are elected Separately from the Yugoslav fed eral posts and were not involved in the contentious federal vote that Kostunica won on Sept. 24. Serbian President Mi lan Milutinovic and other Serbian gov ernment leaders were elected in 1998 to four-year terms. Several ministers in the Serbian gov ernment have ;il ready resigned, in the past two days, including Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic. Before the walkout, Kostunica had spoken positively about the progress his side had achieved. “Whitt had not been ppssible for sev eral years became possible in just few days,” he said. He announced a Wednesday meet ing of Yugoslavia’s Supreme Council of Defense, which, for the first time in years, will be attended by Montenegro’s pro Western president, Milo Djukanovic. Montenegro is Serbia’s smaller partner in the two-republic Yugoslav federation. Minnesota Democratic 1 Congressman Vento dies of lung cancer ■ Representive cared most about environment by Frederic J. F r o m m e r Associated Press WASHINGTON — Minnesota Rep. Bruce Vento, a 12-term Democrat who championed environmental and honie ^ less causes, died Tuesday after a bout with lung cancer. Vento, who was diagnosed in Febru ary, died at 12:20 a.m. at his home in St. Paul, Minn., surrounded by his family, spokesman Rick Jauert said. He had malignant mesothelioma, a rare type of cancer caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. Vento, who was 60, announced in February that he had cancer and would not seek re-election. His treatment in cluded the removal of one lung, chemotherapy and radiation, but doctors discovered more cancer last month. As a young man, Vento worked as a state-paid laborer in several St. Paul-area facilities that he claimed exposed him to asbestos fibers. Two weeks ago, he filed a lawsuit against 11 companies that al legedly supplied or installed asbestos prod i ucts at those job sites. Vento made his most significant con tributions on environmental issues, which he called his “true passion.” When Democrats controlled the House, Vento was chairman of the House Natural Resources subcommittee on na tional parks, forests and lands for 10 years, pushing for more money for national parks and other environmental priorities. “I think Bruce Vento has been one of the most impressive and effective con gressmen in modem Minnesota history,” said former Vice President Walter Mondale. “It’s hard to think of an envi ronmental issue where his leadership has not been found.” President Clinton paid tribute to Ven to at a dinner in June for his environ mental record and work on behalf of the homeless. “He has steered into law more than 300 bills to protect our natural resources,” Clinton said. “The tiling I like even more about Bruce Vento is he cares about peo ple, especially people without a voice: the homeless.” Vento was bom Oct. 7, 1940, in St. Paul and attended the University of Min nesota and Wisconsin State University. He worked as a science and social stud ies teacher before winning a seat to the state House in 1970. He was first elect ed to Congress in 1976. For the last decade, Vento pushed a bill to make it easier for the Hmong, an ethnic group in Laos who fought with U.S. forces during the Vietnam Wtr, to become U.S. citizens by waiving the Eng lish-language requirement for them. After he was diagnosed with cancer, Vento made passage of the bill a top priority. His effort ended successfully when Congress approved the measure in May. “This bill would have never been conceived or passed if it had not been for Bruce Vento,” said Philip Smith, Wash ington director of Lao Veterans of Amer ica, which lobbied on behalf of the leg islation. “He reached across the aisle and worked and persevered to make this hap pen. He is our hero. He is a champion of the Hmong people.” Vento is survived by his wife, Susan Lynch Vento, whom he married in Au gu&l, lUJU UUCC 5UI1S. America responsible * for Mideast violence, say many Palestinians by Laura Kino Associated Press RAMALLAH, West Bank — Press ing a handkerchief to her nose, eyes streaming from tear gas, 21 -year-old Pdes tinian student Houddeh Hamid ges tured toward the rock-throwing clash in progress just down the road. “This is all America’s fault,” she said angrily. Amid the 12-day outbreak of vio lence that has swept the West Bank and Gaza Strip, many Palestinians are ex £ pressing growing bitterness toward the w United Suites, sentiments that could com plicate the long-running American bid to broker a Mideast peace. *' Israel, of course, is the primary tar get of Palestinian fury over the clashes that have left dozens dead, nearly all of them Palestinians. But the United States, its Israel’s closest ally and chief protec tor, is seen by many Palestinians as bear ing a heavy share of responsibility for the methods Israel has used to try to quell the violence. “With one word from America, all this would stop: the tanks, the helicopters, the live ammunition,” said Mohib Bargh outi, a Palestinian journalist, speaking as gunfire, apparently from both sides, rang out during a clash Monday on the out MlDEAST see page 6 BBC names suspects in Irish car bombing by Shawn PooATCHNIK Associated Press BELFAST, Northern Ireland — A BBC investigation into North ern Ireland’s bloodiest-ever terror ist attack lias identified key suspects in the car bombing of Omagh, divid ing families of the 29 people slain. The British Broadcasting Cor}).’s flagship Panorama program on Mom day named four men allegedly in volved in the Aug. 15, 1998. attack on the religiously mixed town, which was designed to undermine Northern Ireland’s peace accord of the same year. The broadcast went ahead after a Belfast court rejected a last-minute appeal by the husband of one victim who aigued it might prejudice pros ecutions of those named. ‘‘I might never get justice for my wife libbi now. Trial by media is dan gerous.” said Laurence Rush, whose spouse died in her Omagh furniture shop when the 500-pound bomb went off on the town’s main shopping street. But Michael Gallagher, whose only son Adrian also perished in the blast, said he thought the broadcast was courageous and might resuscitate the official hunt for the Irish Repub lican Army dissidents responsible. Gallaglier, one of several victims’ relatives who cooperated with the program makers, said the suspects were “simply being asked to explain their movements on the day of the bomb.” He said lie hoped the pregram would “jog someone’s memory or conscience.” Despite a massive investigation by police in both parts of Ireland and emeigency legislation by the British and Irish governments designed to make convictions easier, just one man from the Irish Republic, Colm Mur phy, lias been cluuged in connection with the attack. Northern Irish detectives say they know the identities of most of the IRA dissidents involved, but don’t have sufficient evidence to convict than. The Irish Republic’s police com mander, Pat Byrne, already has ad mitted he doesn't think they ever will. hi Monday s program. Panorama reporter John Wire tracked down Murphy, who has been free on bail pending the start of his trial on a charge of conspiring to cause explosions. Murphy already has served a prison sentence for smuggling weapons to the outlawed IRA, which called a cease-fire in 1997. Wire also went to the homes or businesses of three others linked to Murphy: farmer Seamus Daly, win dow-glass merchant Oliver Traynor and his neighbor Liam Campbell, iden tified by die program as “officer com manding” the Real IRA, the splinter group responsible for the attack. All three liid in their premises and refused to answer questions. Irish police last week arrested and charged Campbell with membership of the outlawed organization, an of fense that, if proven, would be pun ishable with a maximum five-year sentence. Daly and Traynor both were .interrogated as suspects but heed with out charge after saying nothing while in custody. All four wer.e linked to the use of three mobile phones that police believe were used by the bomb team or those making warning calls after it was planted. All four men’s names have long been known to those with sources in the police investigation. Until now, detectives had urged journalists not to publish them for fear of compro mising their work, which now appears to have hit a dead end. Clinton approves China trade bill; China’s negotiations stall at WTO by Deb Riechmann Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Clin ton’s signing of a bill that permanent ly normalizes trade relations with Chi na is expected to translate into billions of dollars in new sales for U.S. fann ers, manufacturers and service com panies. Increased competition inside Chi na, however, is expected to result in massive layoffs, especially in China’s state-run companies. The House approved the legisla tion normalizing trade relations in May; the Senate passed it on Sept. 19. The measure revises a law from the mid 1970s that subjected trade relations with communist states to annual re views. The president invited key law makers to the South Lawn of the Wliite House Tuesday to witness his signing of the bill, a hard-fought victory for the administration. The legislation is an outgrowth of a U.S.-Chinese agreement last fall under which China, as a condition for entering the World Trade Organization, agreed to open its markets and re duce tariffs. Clinton has aigued that the more ‘We remain engaged with the Chinese about imple menting PNTR. There are some very important issues we have to address.’ Jake Siewert White House Press Secretary China opens its markets to U.S. prod ucts, the more fully it will unleash the potential of China citizens. It is China’s 1 billion residents that U.S. business is eyeing. Labor, conservative groups and hu man rights campaigners had argued that the annual review allowed the Unit ed States a chance each year to pres sure China on human rights, trade prac tices and weapons exports. After it enters the WTO, China’s tariffs on U.S.-made goods would drop from an overall average of 25 percent to 9 percent by 2005. Negotiations at the WTO’s Geneva headquarters, how ever, recently stalled after three weeks of discussions in which tire Clrinese ne gotiators appeared to be backpedaling on agreements made with the United States or other nations. “We remain engaged with tire Chi nese about implementing PNTR There are some very injjportant issues we have to address,” White House press sec retary Jake Siewert said Tuesday. U.S. “Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky hits been in touch with them, and we will continue to talk about the importance of implementing tltis agree ment in a way that actually makes it work, ;md so the Chinese government not only lives up to the spirit of the agreement, but to the letter of the ;igree nient.” Barshefsky is set to leave as early its this week for Beijing to help clear the way for China’s initiation into the WTO. Barshefsky spokeswoman Amy Stil well emphasized Monday that Barshef sky’s trip was not aimed at reopening any parts of the deal the United States made with China last Novem ber. The Chinese know the only way they will enter the WTO is by stick ing to the terms of their iigreements, she said. News Briefs ■ FBI subpoenas Bush campaign, corporate records in tape investigation WASHINGTON (AP) — Corporate and campaign records related to Geoige W. Bush’s media consultant and his staff have been subpoenaed by federal agents investigating the anonymous mailing of Bush debate materials to an aide of his Democratic presidential rival. FBI agents have focused primarily on these staffers and are trying to deter mine whether their explanations hold up, a senior federal law enforcement of ficial said Monday, requesting anonymi ty The case began when former Rep. Tom Downey, who was helping Demo crat A1 Gore prepare for debates with GOP opponent Bush, received a pack age Sept. 13 containing documents and a videotape that appeared to show Bush’s debate preparations. Downey turned the material over to the FBI, which has since begun a crim inal investigation. ■ Poisoned alcohol death toll rises to 59 in El Salvador SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — What started as a local tragedy appears to be growing into « national cri sis as deaths across the country are re ported from people drinking a deadly methyl alcohol, authorities said. So far, 59 deaths were reported from five of the country’s 14 regions, officials said Monday. Police said the deadly al cohol was sold openly to poor farm workers at liquor stores under the brand name Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is a well-known cheap sugarcane liquor. Police suspect black marketers refilled discarded bottles with a mixture of methanol, which is normally used as an antifreeze in cars. ■ Clinton meeting with North Korean defense chairman WASHINGTON (AP) — He is vir tually unknown to the outside world, but Clinton administration officials have been eagerly awaiting his arrival, hoping his visit will contribute to an ongoing eas ing of tensions on the Korean Peninsu la. President Clinton was meeting Tues day with Cho Myong Nok, the first vice chairman of North Korea’s National De fense Commission and perhaps the clos est adviser to Pyongyang’s supreme leader, Kim Jong II. Later, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will be host of a dinner at the State Department for Cho after he meets with congressional leaders—all this for a representative of a country with which the United States does not maintain diplo matic relations. He is the highest rank ing North Korean official to visit Wash ington. ■ Greek officers find another victim of ferry disaster, death toll now 80 ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Coast guard officers said Tuesday they have found the body of another Greek ferry disaster victim, bringing the death toll in last month’s wreck to at least 80. The victim was identified as 30-year old Akis Skantera, an Albanian. His body was found washed up on a remote beach on the Aegean Sea island of Mykonos, 25 miles from the accident site. The 34-year-old Express Samina fer ry sank on Sept. 26 with more than 500 people aboard after hitting well-marked rocks off the island of Paros. Only one more woman is officially listed as miss ing, but there are fears that additional people could have been aboard the ves ' sel when it sank. The ferry’s captain and first officer are facing murder chaiges and have been ordered jailed pending trial. The two of ficers also face felony chaiges of causing a shipwreck with' possible intent.