Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Albright’s visit makes ‘progress’ by George Gedda Associated Press WASHINGTON —Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Thursday called , North Korea one of the “least-free na tions on Earth” but said her visit there last week was justified because it could lead to a peace breakthrough in North east Asia. “America’s immediate interest is to make gains on core security issues,” Al bright said in a speech. “There are, af ter all, few human rights imperatives more meaningful than preventing war.” Without dialogue, she said, “We are stuck with the status quo.” And, she added, she made “substantial progress” in her six hours of discussions with North Korean leader Kim Jong II on security issues. She said it is still not clear whether enough progress was made to warrant a visit to Pyongyang later this month by President Clinton. The White House has indicated such a visit is possible as part of an Asian tour being planned by Clin ton. Albright said: “Today, in Korea, it is possible to envision a future in which the 38th parallel becomes just another line of latitude; in which North-South con tacts increase while tensions decrease; and in which visits to and from Pyongyang no longer warrant the attention of the world.” ■ m During her visit, North Korea ex pressed a willingness to undertake seri ous restraints on its programs for missile development and for the export of missiles to Iran and other countries. U.S. and North Korean officials are holding follow-up discussions on the mis sile issue this week in Malaysia. In return, Pyongyang is expecting economic benefits front the United States but Albright said Kirn didn’t go into specifics on this point. Albright outlined in detail her per ceptions of the human situation in North Korea. “North Korea is among the least free nations on Earth,” she said. “There is little, if any, respect for global nomts I"' 111 of human or civil rights. From the top down, the emphasis is on uniformity, or der and discipline. The result is indeed order, but at a heartbreaking cost in hu man happiness, creativity and welfare. ” In Pyongyang, Albright joined Kim at a spectacular gymnastic and dance ex hibition featuring a cast of thousands and ■ unmistakable pro-regime messages di rected at the more than 100,000 spec tators. Albright said the performance was “perfectly orchestrated” but added that “only a dictator can make that many peo ple dance in step.” -1 ‘America's immediate interest is to make gains on core security issues. There are, after all, few human rights. imperatives more meaningful than preventing war.’ Madeline Albright Secretary of State Relatives begin identifying Taiwan crash victims ■ ramilies search for dead, answers after tragedy by Dirk Beveridge Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan — Weeping and clutching one another, relatives on Thursday began identifying the bodies of the 81 people killed on a Singapore Airlines flight, including at least 23 Americans. Bodies were lined up in neat rows in a room at Taipei’s airport, laid next to caskets of honey pine and dark cher ry wood. One woman dropped to her knees at the makeshift moigue, sobbing heavily as she appeared to recognize a corpse. In Singapore, the brother of a man who apparently died in the crash burst into a nationally televised Singa pore Airlines news conference to de nounce the airline. Tan Yin Leong said he learned of his brother’s death in 1 news reports but the airline would not give him any information. “Please tell the press the true sto ry,” Tan pleaded to Rick Clements, the airline’s vice president for public af fairs. “Don’t hide any more!” A security agent tried to take Tan away, but Clements insisted he be al lowed to stay. Looking exhausted, Tan gasped for breath as he spoke for several minutes in front of TV cameras and reporters. His tearful daughter, Na tali, stood behind him. When Tan finished speaking, Clements put his arm around him and ended the news conference. “That was obviously a very distressing moment for all of us, especially for that poor gentleman who lost his brother,” he said. The brother, Tan Yip Thong, was listed as dead or missing. A similar out burst by the same victim’s sister-in-law, Chua Geok Hong, ended a televised news conference early Thursday in Taipei by the airline’s chief executive, Cheong Choong Kong. The disaster occurred late Tuesday. Los Angeles-bound Flight SQ006 was speeding along a runway at Taipei’s air port in swirling winds and heavy rain when it slammed into something, sur vivors said. It burst into flanie and broke into three pieces, sending flaming de bris flying across the tarmac. The death toll rose to 81 on Thurs day when the bodies of two missing peo ple were identified. Most of the vic tims were Americans or Taiwanese. Another 40 people were hospitalized, and 58 suffered minor injuries or es caped unhurt. On Thursday, Taiwanese safety officials shed little new light on the cause of the disaster, but they were able to provide some details about what had happened. The Boeing 747-400 was traveling 145 mph when the accident occurred, which was too fast to abort the take off attempt, according to Kay Yong, managing director of Taiwan’s Aviation Safety Council. Yong declined com ment on what, if anything, the airplane struck, but said officials might be able to better explain it by Friday. Also Thursday, officials began an alyzing the plane’s “black boxes,” or flight data and voice cockpit recorders, and a team of about 50 investigators from the United States, Taiwan and Sin gapore climbed through the jumbo jet’s wreckage to gather evidence. They took note of a shredded tire and a jet en gine planted deep in the ground while sifting through smaller pieces of wreck age and putting some in plastic bags. Yong couldn’t say whether the jet ever became airborne. She ruled out one theory of the disaster, saying the pilot had not somehow swerved onto the wrong runway. Some relatives have blamed the pi lot, Capt. C.K. Foong, for the tragedy, saying he shouldn’t have tried to take off in bad weather. The airport was be ing lashed by gusts of wind and tor rential rains from an offshore typhoon late Tuesday. Singapore Amines, which had not had a major accident in 28 years of operations, defended Foong, saying con ditions were safe enough that other planes were taking off and landing at the time. Taiwanese aviation official Billy K.C. Chang said visibility levels and winds were well within established limits. A Taiwanese carrier, EVA Airways, said Thursday that before Flight SQ006 took off, EVA had canceled three flights because crosswinds exceeded its safe ty threshold of 55 mph. EVA spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei said the disclosure was not intended as a crit icism of Singapore Airlines. He added that the canceled flights were to have used aircraft with large cargo doors, making them more vulnerable to winds. Singapore Airlines responded that crosswinds were blowing at no more than 17 mph when Flight SQ006 tried to take off. Clements said the compa ny follows Boeing’s guideline of nev er attempting takeoffs in crosswinds of more than 34.5 mph. At the airport, guards stood at at tention near the coffins Thursday. Dozens of Buddhists circled around them, chanting and rhythmically ring ing bells in a ceremony to honor the dead. uutsiae, a aozen memoers or tne Chinese Christian Relief Association sang to the music of a solo guitarist. “Today, many of our church mem bers will walk together to mark this ac cident, to worship and praise our lord,” said the guitarist, preacher Chao Kao Ping. Some of the relatives wailed loudly. Others covered their faces with their coats to shield themselves as they walked past television crews and pho tographers to enter the terminal. Forty-seven of the passengers were Americans. President Clinton offered condolences Wednesday to those who lost family members and friends. “It’s too early to know the cause of the accident, but the United States is helping Taiwan authorities to find the answers,” Clinton said in Washington. Car bomb kills two, cease-fire postponed by Mark Lavie Associated Press JERUSALEM — A powerful car bomb exploded Thursday near a crowd ed outdoor market in the heart of Jerusalem, killing two bystanders on the afternoon that Israeli and Pales tinian leaders were scheduled to an nounce a truce. Both of those killed near the Ma hane Yehuda market were apparently Israeli Jews, Israeli Police Commis sioner Yehuda Wilk said. Paramedics said 11 people were injured near the market, which sells food, vegetables and clothing in Jewish west Jerusalem. A group calling itself the military wing of the Islamic Jihad claimed re sponsibility for the attack in a state ment faxed to The Associated Press of fice in Damascus, Syria. The statement said the group had carried out the bomb ing “in reply to the enemy’s crimes against our Palestinian people” and vowed more such attacks. Flames burst from the car, which witnesses said moments earlier had been chased by police. Huge black plumes of smoke rose into the sky as wailing ambulances rushed to a nar row side street near the market. Earlier in the afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Pales tinian leader Yasser Arafat had been scheduled to make separate an nouncements of a cease-fire in an ef fort to stop more than a month of fight ing that has left at least 165 people dead and thousands wounded. The announcements were post poned without explanation before the explosion. After the blast, Israeli offi cials said they were standing by the truce reached the night before. Barak was to deliver a television address lat er Thursday afternoon. Arafat was scheduled to convene his Cabinet and had no immediate re action to the Jerusalem bombing. Ear lier in the day, Arafat’s office issued a statement urging Palestinians to “stick to peaceful means” in protests against Israel. In Washington, President Clinton condemned the new eruption of vio lence and said it was time “for those who believe in peace to stand togeth er” to stop the bloodshed. The explosion near the market was so powerful police were unable to iden tify the make of the car, Jerusalem Po lice Chief Yair Yitzhaki said. One by stander said Ire tried to pull the woman victim from the flames. “I saw her on the ground and her legs had been blown off,” said Yaakov Hassoum, who owns a store nearby. “I hoped she was alive, but sire was dead.” An Israeli soldier, Oshri Atun, said that just before the explosion, he saw a white sedan being chased by a police van with sirens wailing. The car turned into a side street, and the bomb ex ploded seconds later, Atun said. Wilk said the assailants parked the car, rigged with large quantities of ex plosives, in a side street near the market. He said heavy police presence apparently deterred the assailants from trying to explode the bomb in the crowded market. Police said they were checking whether the assailants got away. For years, the market has been a choice target for those trying to sabo tage peace between Israelis and Pales tinians. It was the scene of a car bomb in November 1998 that killed two sui cide bombers and wounded 21 other people. Hamas claimed responsibility. And in July 1997, two militants blew themselves up in the area, killing them selves and 16 shoppers. The bombing came hours after both sides took tentative first steps to car ry out the truce agreement. Near Netzarim in the Gaza Strip, police bundled several dozen stone throwers in trucks and drove them away. Israel pulled back tanks from several spots in Gaza and lifted its siege of several Wfest Bank towns, including Nablus, Bethlehem and Hebron. With in a few hours, Palestinians were to be able to move freely in the West Bank, said Brig. Gen. Ron Kitrey, the Israeli army spokesman. Despite the moves toward restraint, violence persisted in some spots. A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed in a rock-tlirowing clash with Israeli troops in the West BanK, village of Hizme, near Jerusalem, and another Palestinian died in a firefight between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops in the West Bank village of Al Khad er. Elsewhere, clashes broke out in Gaza and the West Bank town of He bron. The conflict here erupted Sept. 28 in the West Bank and Gaza, the two heavily Palestinian territories the Pales tinians want as part of an indepen dent state. Peres and Arafat’s meet ing late Wednesday at Arafat's Gaza City office was the first high-level talk between the sides since the conflict erupted. “We hope we shall have two or three days without funerals,” Peres told Associated Press Television News. “We shall return to normalize the citiifltinn in thp tprritnrips nnH rpfnm to peace talks.” Palestinian peace negotiator Nabil Shaath said according to the trace agree ment, Israel would gradually lift its clo sure of Palestinian areas, permit Pales tinian workers to return to jobs in Israel and open Gaza International Airport, as well as border crossings with Egypt and Jordan. Such restrictions have cost the Palestinian economy about $4 mil lion a day, the U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees said Wednesday. As a result of the truce agreement. Israel at the last minute froze attacks on Palestinian taigets that were to come as retaliation for the killing of three Is raeli soldiers in Wednesday gun bat tles. The three soldiers were the first to die in combat since Oct. 1. Previous cease-fire agreements, in cluding one brokered by Clinton last month, have not held, with each side accusing the other of violating com mitments. Afghanistan’s militia rulers, U.S. diplomats discuss bin Laden by Amir Z i a Associated Press ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The thorny issue of alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden dominated talks Thursday be tween a U.S. diplomat and a represen tative of the ruling militia of Afghanistan, where bin Laden lives, officials said. U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan William B. Milam met for two hours with Ab dul Salarn Zaeef, the Taliban militia’s ambassador to the country, Zaeef said. “The meeting was a success because we have agreed to continue our discus sions,” he told The Associated Press. A spokesman for the U.S. Em bassy confirmed the meeting, saying the Taliban ambassador paid Milam a “cour tesy call.” He refused to give details. The meeting comes amid growing fears in the Afghan capital and in neigh boring Pakistan that Washington may strike war-battered Afghanistan if it finds evidence that bin Laden is behind the bombing of the USS Cole. The attack last month in Yemen killed 17 Ameri can Marines. The Taliban have denied bin Laden was involved in the attack, say ing his communication links with the outside world have been severed and he is not allowed to use Afghan territory to launch attacks against any country. Zaeef said Washington has not yet completed its investigation into the Cole bombing. “The reports of a possible U.S. strike on Afghanistan and involvement of bin Laden in the bombing in Yemen are newspaper speculations,” he said. Zaeef said he expressed concern dur ing the meeting about a possible joint U.S.-Russian action against Afghanistan. He gave no details about the U.S. re sponse to the Taliban’s concerns. The United States attacked Afghanistan with Tomahawk cruise mis siles in August 1998 after its two em bassies were bombed in East Africa. Washington accuses bin Laden of mas terminding those attacks. Bin Laden, a Saudi dissident who wants U.S. forces out of Saudi Arabia, denies the charge. U.S. officials want bin Laden to stand trial in the United States or a third coun try. In an attempt to force the Taliban to accept the U.S. demand, the United Nations imposed limited sanctions against Afghanistan in November 1999. But the Taliban, who call bin Laden a holy war rior, have refused to budge. The Taliban, which means “the stu dents of Islam,” rule 95 percent of Afghanistan and are battling their north ern-based opposition on several fronts in an attempt to capture the rest. They are mostly Sunni Muslims mid Pashtun, Afghanistan’s majority ethnic group. . News Briefs ■ Plane crashes shortly after takeoff; all 48 aboard killed LUANDA, Angola (AP) — A char ter plane burst into flames minutes after takeoff, crashing into a remote jungle in a key diamond-mining region, au thorities said Wednesday. All 48 people . •aboard were killed, reports said. The cause of the crash Tuesday! evening was not immediately known.! Flight disasters in Angola are common-; ly blamed on.poor aircraft rnaintenance or rebel gunfire. The Antonov 26 had just departed from the northern Angolan town of Sauri mo, 500 miles east of Luanda, when it exploded into a fireball at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Civil Aviation Director Bran co Ferreira said Wednesday. An army team reached the crash site late Wednesday and found no survivors, the stale-run television network TPA said. The flight dam and cockpit voice recorder had not yet been retrieved. ■ World’s oldest woman dies, just short of 115th birth day LONDON (AP) —The world’s oldest woman, who attributed her longevity to whisky and boiled onions, died Thurs day, six days short of her 115 th birthday. Eva Morris died peacefully in her sleep at a nursing home in the central England town of Stone, staff said. “She was a grand old lady,” said Les ley Powell, the matron of the home. “She was well right up until last night. She was her normal self. I’d spoken to her about a week ago and told her she was going to be 115. She just said ’Oh, real ly?”’ Morris was recognized as the oldest; woman in the world by the Guinness; Book of Records in March. ■ Two killed, 40 others injured in factory explosion SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An explosion sent flames roaring through two chemical factories near Seoul on Thursday, killing two people and injur ing 40 others. Rescuers were trying to dig out two other factory workers believed to be buriOed under the rubble at an industri al complex in Ansan, 22 miles southwest of Seoul, said police Pfc. Han Sang-joon of Ansan Police Station. The explosion occurred at DanH Chemicals Co., Han said. The flames quickly spread and gutted an adjacent factory as well. Of 40 people at hospitals, nine were seriously injured, Han said. The cause of the explosion was un der investigation. I ' : ■ Houston, Jacksonville and Detroit get Super Bowls ATLANTA (AP) — The Super Bowl will be dropping anchors in Jacksonville. Going along with the concept of us ing cruise ships as floating hotels, NFL owners voted Wednesday to bring their championship game to north Florida for the first time. As expected, the owners gave the 2004 Super Bowl to Houston and the 2006 game to Detroit, rewarding both cities for building new stadiums. Neither had opposition. ■ Brad Pitt named Sexiest Man Alive NEW YORK (AP) — Brad Pitt is the sexiest man alive, again. That’s according to People magazine, which bestowed the title on him in its special issue on newsstands Friday. Hie 36-year-old actor becomes the first per son honored twice since People began the annual naming in 1985. Pitt was previously cited in 1995, when he was one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors. He married “Friends? star Jennifer Aniston in July. »2 4 4